After Kamala Harris ended the Democratic National Convention on a high, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is hoping he can bring her down to earth by pulling out of the presidential race.
On Thursday, the independent candidate filed paperwork to withdraw from presidential ballots in Arizona, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes confirmed. The withdrawal came ahead of a press conference Friday morning—Kennedy has refused to confirm or deny reports that he’s planning to end his campaign and endorse Donald Trump.
He made the move in Arizona after Harris spurned a request for a meeting—while the Trump campaign appeared to open the way for a cabinet role.
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A move by Kennedy to quit could spell bad news for Harris in states where margins are ultra-tight, pollsters say.
According to a Wall Street Journal poll in late July, voters who backed an independent or third-party candidate—almost all of whom supported Kennedy—had a more negative view of Harris than of Trump. The poll also found that if Kennedy and other alternative candidates were off the ballot, a quarter would back Harris but half would go for Trump.
A 1-point lead for Harris became a 2-point deficit without Kennedy in the race, according to the Journal. An analysis from The Washington Post earlier this month based on six polls also found that third-party candidates—and Kennedy especially—were hurting Trump more than Harris, meaning that getting rid of the most significant one of them could help Trump.
Kennedy’s hypothetical departure could, however, have less of an impact now than it might have done earlier in the year.
For most of 2024, Kennedy polled at around 10 percent nationally and did even better in some swing states. Since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month and was replaced at the top of the Democratic ticket by Harris, many Democratic-leaning voters who didn’t want to vote for Biden have abandoned Kennedy, according to Axios.
Kennedy is now polling at under 5 percent, with his campaign hemorrhaging cash—he had just $3.9 million left in the bank at the end of July while owing almost $3.5 million in debt.
His running mate, Nicole Shanahan, fueled speculation that the end is near this week in a podcast appearance in which she spoke about the “two options” that the ailing campaign faces. One option is staying in the race, which she acknowledged risked helping Harris “because we draw more votes from Trump.”
“Or we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump and explain to our base why we’re making this decision,” Shanahan said. The day after, the Kennedy campaign announced that he would “address the nation” to discuss “the present historical moment and his path forward” on Friday morning.
Kennedy will do so from a rally in Phoenix, Arizona—not far from Glendale, where Trump is also holding an event Friday. In a Fox News interview on Thursday, Trump said “it’s possible we will be meeting tomorrow.”
Reports suggest Kennedy—who has questioned the safety of vaccines—has been angling for a Cabinet post in exchange for backing Trump, possibly Health and Human Services secretary.
For much of the race, Trump and Kennedy’s rhetoric about each other might have made it seem unlikely they’d potentially join forces. The former president has previously said he’d “take Biden” over Kennedy and variously called the independent a “far more LIBERAL than anyone running as a Democrat” and a “Democrat ‘Plant,’” while Kennedy accused Trump of having filled his last administration with “swamp creatures” and claimed Trump “torpedoed the Constitution.”
With rumors swirling that Kennedy is about to kiss the ring, Trump changed his tune. “He’s a brilliant guy,” Trump said of Kennedy in a CNN interview Tuesday. “He’s a very smart guy. I’ve known him for a very long time.” He added that he’d “certainly” be open to giving Kennedy a job in a new Trump administration.
