Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the suspension of his campaign. This came hours before his speech at a rally in support of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Glendale. He endorsed Trump, later commenting on his desire to work alongside the former president if he's reelected.
When Kennedy announced his suspension on Aug. 23, he said his platform "flourished among young voters and independent voters," and that he disagreed with Democrats on "the most existential issues."
He said he suspended his campaign because he believed he would divert votes from the Republican ticket to Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. He will continue to keep his name on the ballot in most states but urged voters not to vote for him in swing states that could change the tide of the election.
Kennedy withdrew his name from Arizona and Pennsylvania late this week. He submitted a court filing shortly in Pennsylvania to withdraw before he endorsed Trump. However, election officials told the Associated Press he was too late to drop his name from other pivotal states such as Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.
Kennedy said censorship and bias from media outlets — in addition to his campaign videos on social media being claimed for violating community standards — affected his campaign and continues to impact the Trump campaign.
"I no longer believe that I have a realistic path to electoral victory in the face of this relentless, systematic censorship and media control," Kennedy said. "I cannot, in good conscience, ask my staff and volunteers to keep working their long hours, or ask my donors to keep giving when I cannot honestly tell them that I have a real path to the White House."
During his address to the nation, Kennedy spoke on the war in Ukraine, censorship and the "war on our children," citing an increase in chronic diseases. Kennedy said he and Trump are aligned on many key issues surrounding these subjects. However, Kennedy affirmed his belief in leaving the ability to disagree "publicly, privately and fiercely" with the former president open.
"We are mass poisoning all of our children and our adults," Kennedy said. "Considering the grievous human cause of this tragic epidemic of chronic disease, it seems almost crass to mention the damage it does to our economy, but I'll say it is crippling the nation's finances."
He said he plans to work alongside Trump on issues regarding public health in the country, pointing toward an "insidious corruption" within several regulatory bodies. He said Trump offered to conjoin both campaigns as a "unity party" in a meeting with the former president's family members and advisers, which Kennedy accepted. He also said he reached out to Harris for the same purpose, but she declined the request.
When speaking on Harris' campaign, he said that her surge of popularity was based upon nothing but "smoke and mirrors" orchestrated by the Democratic Party and media organizations, calling the absence of policies and interviews since the announcement of her campaign "profoundly undemocratic."
"Who needs a policy when you have Trump to hate?" Kennedy said.
Carson Carpenter, the president of College Republicans at ASU and a senior studying political science, said that he could see Kennedy take on a public health secretary role in the Trump administration.
"RFK (Jr.) would be able to bring something to the table where we can start being able to bring more of a level playing field for food, and bringing more of a sense of health back into the equation, into the American lifestyle," Carpenter said.
Carpenter said Trump's Glendale Rally had electric energy and enthusiasm. When Kennedy came out to speak, Carpenter said the place was "filled with love in the air."
"Having that unifier of RFK Jr. coming in on the ticket with President Trump will just show that he's going to have an administration that's willing to hear from both sides, but also working effectively to help the American people," Carpenter said.
Carpenter also said that having the Kennedy name — a name associated with Democrats since John F. Kennedy — would greatly affect the ticket and bring in independent voters.
"We just had a very nice endorsement from RFK Jr.," Trump said in a video on X posted by @TrumpWarRoom on Aug. 23.
This semester College Republicans at ASU plans to support its members' careers through conservative ideals and embodying the party's values, according to Carpenter. He said this goal will help recruit "effective activists" to carry the Trump ticket into the White House.
The State Press was denied credentials to the Glendale Donald Trump Rally on Aug. 23.
Edited by Abigail Beck, Sophia Braccio and Alysa Horton.
Reach the reporter at gheadle@asu.edu and @George_Headley7 on X.
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George is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication. This is his third semester with The State Press. He has also worked at Times Media Group.
