Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Friday that he was suspending his campaign – with a twist.
Kennedy pushed supporters who live in swing states to back Republican nominee Donald Trump, but said his name would remain on the ballots on traditional red or blue states.
‘I would like everyone to know that I am not terminating my campaign, I am simply suspending it,’ Kennedy said in Arizona on Friday.
In long-winded remarks, Kennedy said he was withdrawing from the race in swing states because ‘I would likely hand the election over to the Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues.’
The confusing announcement was the latest chapter in a 16-month saga that brought brain worms, dog-eating and dead bear cubs into the political vernacular.
Kennedy went scorched earth on the Democratic Party in his Phoenix remarks – but didn’t immediately reveal his plans.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (left) and his wife Cheryl Hines (right) during the launch of his independent presidential bid in October in Philadelphia
‘I began this journey as a Democrat, the party of my father, my uncle, the party I pledged my allegiance to long before I was old enough to vote,’ he reminded the crowd.
Kennedy then blasted the Democratic Party for ‘canceling the primary to conceal the cognitive decline of the sitting president.’
He later added that the Democrats ‘ran a sham primary that was rigged to prevent any serious challenge to President Trump.’
Once Biden, he said, ‘predictably bungled’ the debate against Trump, ‘they installed a candidate who was so unpopular with voters that she dropped out in 2020 without winning a single delegate.’
Kennedy also slammed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for not engaging in a sit-down interview yet.
He blasted the Democrats for being extra critical of Trump, noting that the GOP nominee was mentioned 147 times during just the first day of the just-wrapped Chicago convention.
‘Who needs a policy whe you have Trump to hate?’ he asked.
Ahead of the announcement, a court filing beat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the punch.
In Pennsylvania, the independent candidate put in writing that he planned to endorse Trump, according to the Associated Press. He also requested to be removed from Pennsylvania’s ballot.
The news broke as journalists waited for the candidate to speak Friday in Phoenix where RFK Jr. is expected to drop out of the race after withdrawing Thursday night from Arizona‘s ballot.
Trump is speaking in nearby Glendale later Friday and his campaign teased a ‘special guest’ would join him onstage.
That guest was largely believed to be Kennedy, as Trump has courted the independent’s endorsement for weeks.
Earlier Friday, Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, cast some doubt that a Trump endorsement would happen, telling podcast host Adam Carolla that Trump needed to apologize for his COVID-19 response.
‘The hesitation we have right now in joining forces with Trump is that he has not apologized or publicly come out and said Operation Warp Speed was my fault, was a failure and I let it happen,’ Shanahan said.
Operation Warp Speed was Trump’s public-private partnership for the swift development of COVID-19 vaccines.
Trump, rightly, took credit for Operation Warp Speed and he and his allies expressed dismay when the fruits of that labor – Pfizer’s announcement that the vaccine prevented more than 90 percent of infections – didn’t come out until after Election Day 2020.
Since then, with vaccine skepticism on the rise on the political right, Trump has distanced himself from the COVID vaccine.
Shanahan said Trump needed to apologize for the COVID lockdowns and for keeping Dr. Anthony Fauci as a top adviser too.
‘There was a lot that happened under Donald Trump’s watch that should not have happened and cannot happen again,’ she told Carolla. ‘And if we are going to put our bet with him – and we haven’t, we have not confirmed anything – we need absolute assurance.’
