(LifeSiteNews) — Unconfirmed reports suggest Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will drop out of the race and endorse Donald Trump this week.
Kennedy press secretary Stefanie Spear announced on social media that he will be making a major announcement on Friday in Phoenix, Arizona on the state of his campaign.
Independent Presidential Candidate @RobertKennedyJr will address the nation live on Friday about the present historical moment and his path forward. 🇺🇸https://t.co/i8gVV96xYW
— Stefanie Spear (@StefanieSpear) August 21, 2024
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk also announced on X that his Turning Point USA group will be hosting Trump for an event in Phoenix on the same day. The news prompted speculation that Kennedy will withdraw from the campaign and throw his support behind the former president.
🚨BREAKING: RFK Jr. will be addressing the nation on his “path forward” from Phoenix, Arizona on Friday at 11am PT.
Turning Point PAC + Turning Point Action will be hosting Trump on Friday, also in Phoenix.
Doors open at 11am
President’s remarks at 4pmRegister at…
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 21, 2024
ABC News is claiming that Kennedy will withdraw from the race. InfoWars founder Alex Jones has also said that “sources inside” Kennedy’s campaign have told him he will endorse Trump.
In devastating blow to the deep state RFK Jr. will officially endorse Trump Friday. This is HUGE news! https://t.co/wX4FzrhhZx
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) August 21, 2024
The probability that Kennedy will endorse Trump seems likely given that his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, an attorney and tech executive who was previously married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has publicly spoken about the possibility on multiple occasions in recent days.
During an appearance on the Impact Theory podcast Tuesday, Shanahan said their campaign faces two options. One is to stay in the race and “run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Walz presidency because we draw votes from Trump” or “we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump.”
🚨BREAKING: RFK Jr.’s VP, Nicole Shanahan, says their campaign is considering joining forces with Trump to prevent a Harris/Walz administration.
RFK endorsing Trump is the natural move. They both are sworn enemies of the CIA, FBI, and the military machine.
RFK can help a lot… pic.twitter.com/KRdoT9y9j9
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 20, 2024
Shanahan also appeared on Fox News, where she blamed Democrats for placing hurdles in the way of their bid for the White House.
“I have to say there’s only one party that has obstructed a fair election for us. And, unfortunately, it was the Democratic Party. They’ve done everything they can, including creating PACs, to prevent us from being able to have ballot access,” she said.
Trump has had 6 court battles to fight during this election, while we have 9 and counting across the country. By bringing these suits against political opponents, the Democrats bankrupt the underpinnings of democracy. What the Democrats consider common course to win elections is… pic.twitter.com/VrGWO9MH7k
— Nicole Shanahan (@NicoleShanahan) August 21, 2024
One of the PACs Shanahan singled out on her X account is Clear Choice PAC, which she claimed is funded by Democratic mega donors Ron Conway and Reid Hoffman.
Clear Choice PAC—the most undemocratic, anti-American PAC in the game—has been suing our campaign in nearly every major jurisdiction with frivolous lawsuits to get us removed from the ballots. Seventy-one percent of Americans want a viable third-party choice. The American public,…
— Nicole Shanahan (@NicoleShanahan) August 20, 2024
Rumors that Kennedy has been considering suspending his campaign have ratcheted up in recent weeks, especially after a video of him speaking with Trump after his assassination attempt was leaked on the internet.
Audio showed Trump talking to Kennedy about the dangers of giving children too many vaccines. He also said he would “love” for Kennedy to “do something” with Trump’s campaign.
Trump also praised Kennedy during an impromptu interview with CNN this week while campaigning in Michigan.
“I would love that endorsement because I’ve always liked him … I respect him a lot,” Trump said. “I probably would (make him part of my administration) if something like that would happen.”
BREAKING: Donald Trump to consider RFK Jr. for position in administration upon his endorsement. pic.twitter.com/WXBVuGB41f
— Dominic Michael Tripi (@DMichaelTripi) August 20, 2024
Last week, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported that Kennedy wanted to set up a meeting with Harris to discuss a potential Cabinet role in exchange for his endorsement. Kennedy has denied those claims, saying in an X post that Harris’ team is “riddled with neocon warmongers” and that her Democratic Party is “the Party of Big Tech, Big Pharma and Wall Street.”
VP Harris’s Democratic Party would be unrecognizable to my father and uncle and I cannot reconcile it with my values.
The Democratic Party of RFK and JFK was the party of civil liberties and free speech. VP Harris‘s is the party of censorship, lockdowns, and medical coercion.…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 15, 2024
Donald Trump Jr. told radio show host Glenn Beck that he “hopes” Kennedy will endorse his father and that he “love(s) the idea of giving him some sort of role in a three-letter agency and letting him blow it up.”
.@DonaldJTrumpJr tells me he’s all for letting @RobertKennedyJr join the Trump administration if he endorses Trump: “I love the idea of giving him some sort of role in a 3-letter agency and letting him blow it up.” pic.twitter.com/EWn9tOqzug
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) August 21, 2024
Trump and Kennedy’s on-again, off-again relationship has taken several turns since Kennedy first visited him in Trump Tower after he won the presidency in 2016. Many medical freedom activists hoped Kennedy would play a major role in Trump’s first term given that Kennedy told the press that Trump wanted to have him lead a committee looking into the eafety of childhood vaccines. In April 2024, Trump called Kennedy’s stance on vaccines “fake.”
Kennedy has been endorsed by podcaster Joe Rogan, NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and Catholic actor Rob Schneider, among others. A self-described “pro-choice” Catholic, Kennedy has said that he supports “restrictions on abortion” but only in “the final months of pregnancy.”