Robert F. Kennedy Jr. intends to end his independent presidential campaign and endorse former President Donald Trump, according to two sources familiar with the plans.
The sources cautioned that talks are ongoing, but there will be clarity by the end of the week. One of the sources said the campaigns are working toward a joint appearance.
The decision to drop out will end the most prominent third-party candidacy in the 2024 race. Kennedy announced Tuesday that he will give a campaign speech addressing “his path forward,” days after his running mate said the campaign faced a choice about staying in the 2024 election or dropping out to back Donald Trump.
Kennedy’s campaign announced he will hold the event in Phoenix on Friday. Trump, meanwhile, is also set to host an event on Friday night, in Glendale, a Phoenix suburb.
Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy’s running mate, said Tuesday that the ticket is weighing two options right now. One is to stay in the race and “risk” a Harris-Walz presidency, as she put it in a podcast interview, while the other option was to drop out of the race and “join forces” with Trump.
Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, told NBC News in an interview Wednesday that “there’s been a lot of communication back and forth” between Kennedy and his campaign.
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“I haven’t spoken to RFK personally, but I know there’s been a lot of communication back and forth between RFK, between the campaign, between this campaign,” Vance said. “Look, our argument to RFK, and I’ll make it right now, because, of course, he hasn’t dropped out yet, is, look: If you want a Democratic Party that protected American workers and stood for strong borders, maybe disagreed with Republicans on things like tax policy, that party doesn’t exist anymore.”
Trump and Kennedy met in person in Milwaukee last month during the Republican convention, which came days after the assassination attempt against Trump.
“I know the president’s been working hard for that, but it’s completely separate from whether RFK gets a Cabinet position,” Vance said. “It’s about welcoming a lot of those Democrats who feel abandoned by the party of Kamala Harris.”
Kennedy’s presence on the 2024 campaign trail has been minimal in recent weeks. He has not hosted a public, campaign-sponsored event since early July, and Shanahan hasn’t been seen on the trail in months. Kennedy’s standing in public polling has slipped, too.
The campaign has faced a string of damaging stories, from groping allegations against Kennedy from a former family babysitter to the bizarre story that Kennedy picked up a bear carcass on the side of the road years ago and used it to stage a bicycle accident in New York’s Central Park.
Kennedy didn’t specifically deny the groping allegation, which surfaced in a Vanity Fair article in July, during a podcast interview, adding: “I am not a church boy. I am not running like that. I have said, I had a very, very rambunctious youth. I said in my announcement speech that I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world.”
“I’m not going to comment on it,” he added when asked again about the specific allegation.
And he also faces financial troubles. The campaign closed July with almost $3.5 million in debt, according to the most recent campaign finance report. Those documents also show that Shanahan, who has been pouring her own millions into the campaign, received a refund of almost $1 million in July.
Kennedy’s endeavor for ballot access in all 50 states has also hit a roadblock. He was recently disqualified from the ballot in New York state, after a judge ruled that his home address used on signature petitions was not his place of residency.
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