Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is thinking of abandoning his campaign as an insurgent independent presidential candidate to help elect Donald Trump, a Kennedy’s running mate said in an interview published online on Tuesday.
Vice presidential candidate Nicole Shanahan said that by running as independents, she and Kennedy risk pulling away support from potential Trump voters and clearing the way for Democrats Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to win the November election.
“Or we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump,” she told Los Angeles media company Impact Theory. Asked when they would make a decision, she did not say. When asked when they would make a decision, she did not respond.
Trump told CNN on Tuesday that he would “certainly be open” to Kennedy playing a role in his administration if an independent candidate drops out of the race and endorses him. Trump told the network in an interview after a campaign stop in Michigan:
I like him, and I respect him. He’s a brilliant guy. He’s a very smart guy. I’ve known him for a very long time. I didn’t know he was thinking about getting out, but if he is thinking about getting out, certainly I’d be open to it.
In a statement on X’s website Tuesday, Kennedy wrote:
As always, I am willing to talk with leaders of any political party to further the goals I have served for 40 years in my career and in this campaign.
Kennedy, the son of the late Democratic politician Robert F. Kennedy, is an environmentalist who spread misinformation about vaccines, and his family has denounced his campaign.
He wanted to run against US President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination, but switched to an independent campaign. Biden later dropped out and endorsed Kamala Harris, who accepted the nomination at the party convention this week.
Kennedy, 70, faces an uphill battle to qualify for the presidential ballot in many states, but he could pull enough votes away in a tight race between Harris and Trump to make a significant impact. An Ipsos poll this month put Kennedy’s support at 4 percent.
Trump and Kennedy have received generous funding from Timothy Mellon, heir to one of America’s most prominent banking families. Mellon, a prominent financial backer of Trump, has donated $25 million to American Values 2024, the foundation that supports Kennedy’s presidential campaign, most recently in April when he donated $5 million.
