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Robert F Kennedy Jr has suspended his marketing campaign for the White Home and endorsed Donald Trump, claiming the Democratic get together had “set itself to dismantling” democracy and conspired to maintain him out of the race.
The third-party candidate had been polling at lower than 5 per cent and did not safe a spot on the poll in lots of states throughout an eccentric marketing campaign punctuated by tales of a worm that ate a part of his mind and a useless bear he dumped in New York’s Central Park.
“I would like everybody to know that I’m not terminating my marketing campaign. I’m merely suspending it and never ending it,” Kennedy, son of Robert F Kennedy and nephew of John F Kennedy, stated on Friday.
He later joined Trump onstage at a rally close to Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, one of many election swing states, with the group chanting “Bobby” repeatedly.
The Republican nominee emphasised the pair’s connection to assassinations — Trump by means of the try on his life final month, and Kennedy by means of the killings of his father and uncle. Trump stated, if elected, he would set up a fee on assassination makes an attempt that will “be tasked with releasing the entire remaining paperwork pertaining to the assassination of” president John F Kennedy and reviewing the try on his personal life.
Kennedy’s announcement may ship a small enhance to Trump’s marketing campaign, and comes as the previous president has fallen behind Democratic rival Kamala Harris in lots of nationwide and swing state polls with simply two and a half months till the November 5 election.
Nevertheless, a New York Occasions/Siena Faculty ballot launched on Saturday confirmed that whereas 35 per cent of Kennedy’s supporters stated they’d shift to Trump, 34 per cent would again Harris.
Kennedy stated he had been a “ferocious critic” of many Trump administration insurance policies, however the males now agreed on points together with ending the struggle in Ukraine by means of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, securing the US’s southern border, and defending free speech.
“We simply had a really good endorsement from RFK Jr,” Trump stated throughout a marketing campaign look in Nevada on Friday. “I wish to thank Bobby . . . That’s massive. He’s an amazing man. Revered by everyone.”
In a assertion posted on X, 5 of Kennedy’s siblings described their brother’s choice to endorse Trump as “a betrayal of the values that our father and our household maintain most pricey. It’s a unhappy ending to a tragic story.”
Harris marketing campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon stated in an announcement after Kennedy’s announcement that “for any American on the market who’s bored with Donald Trump and in search of a brand new method ahead, ours is a marketing campaign for you”.
Kennedy stated Trump had recommended the pair “be a part of forces as a unity get together”. He approached Harris for discussions, however she “declined to satisfy and even to talk with me”.
Kennedy on Friday additionally railed towards the Democratic get together’s “censorship and media management”, saying it had conspired to stop any “severe problem” to President Joe Biden and had then conspired with media to “[engineer] a surge of recognition” for his substitute Harris.
Earlier than launching his quixotic bid for election, Kennedy had gained consideration as a vaccine sceptic, environmental lawyer and crusader towards what he says is an “epidemic” of continual ailments in American kids. He additionally overcame years of substance abuse.
Earlier than his exit on Friday, Kennedy was polling at 4.7 per cent nationally, in comparison with Harris’s 47.2 per cent and Trump’s 43.5 per cent, in response to a FiveThirtyEight common.
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