The hopeless presidential campaign that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched 16 months ago from Boston’s Park Plaza Hotel virtually came to an end in Arizona on Friday afternoon when a third-party candidate announced that he would now support Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Kennedy said he would withdraw his candidacy “in about ten swing states where my presence would be a spoiler.”
He expressed fear that remaining in the presidential race in these key states “could hand the election to Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues: censorship, war and chronic disease.”
“I am suspending my campaign activities because I feel victorious, not defeated,” Kennedy said in a live-streamed address. “Not only have we accomplished the impossible by collecting a million signatures, we have changed the national political debate forever.”
Kennedy’s name will still be on the ballot in many states. He emphasized in his speech that this does not officially end his candidacy and that many voters could still vote for him in November.
In his speech, Kennedy also stressed that he hopes to incorporate his views on health, food production and chronic disease into a possible second Trump administration.
Political scientist Tatishe Nteta of the University of Massachusetts Amherst said one goal of the Kennedy campaign was to create such a platform, since independent candidates traditionally have had “infinitesimally slim” chances of winning the White House.
“If “A coalition with Trump can potentially lead to an influential position in the government, which in some ways will lead to the success of the Kennedy campaign,” said Nteta, a professor and director of the UMass poll.
Nteta told GBH News the move was positive for Trump’s campaign, but it may not translate into a major shift in votes for Trump.
UMass national survey conducted in July found that if Kennedy voters had to choose between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, 29 percent would choose Trump and 26 percent would choose Harris.
Kennedy is a longtime environmental lawyer and is known for his anti-vaccine activism and
Willingness to accept conspiracy theoriesHe is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy Jr. and son of Robert F. Kennedy, who served as U.S. Attorney General in his brother’s administration and was assassinated during his own presidential candidacy.
Although Robert F. Kennedy Jr. often invoked his political background during the election campaign, other members of the Kennedy family distanced themselves from him. More than a dozen Kennedy relatives
supported President Joe Biden this springwhen he was still running for re-election.
Five of Kennedy’s siblings
signed a declaration On Friday afternoon, they reaffirmed their support for the Democrats.
“We want an America full of hope and united by a shared vision of a better future, a future marked by individual freedom, economic promise and national pride,” the statement said. “We believe in Harris and Walz. Our brother Bobby’s decision to support Trump today is a betrayal of the values that matter most to our father and our family. It is a sad end to a sad story.”
Even in Massachusetts, where family names are highly valued, Kennedy’s poll numbers were only in the single digits.
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May poll by UMass and WCVB asked Bay State residents to describe him in a single word. Nteta said many of the responses were negative. The most common answer was “crazy.”
“In the state in which “The Kennedy name dominates and the Kennedy family dominates, or at least has a positive history. This description of a Kennedy descendant will prove problematic for RFK’s ability to win Massachusetts and the presidency,” Nteta said.
He said the dynamic changed for Kennedy after Biden dropped out of the race and Harris emerged as the Democratic nominee.
“One of the key findings about any third-party candidate, and Kennedy is one of them, is that most third-party supporters are dissatisfied voters. They view both the Democratic and Republican candidates in a rather negative light,” Nteta said. “When Biden was at the top of the ballot earlier this year, we saw a lot of dissatisfaction among voters about a rerun of the 2020 election. But with the shift from Biden to Harris, those dissatisfied voters seem to be turning toward Harris and away from third-party candidates like Kennedy, Cornel West and others.”
