Dear Commons Community,
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the presidential race yesterday, leaving his independent campaign behind and aligning himself with the Republican party of Donald Trump. As reported by Yahoo News and other media.
“In an honest system, I believe that I would have won the election,” he said today, running counter to polls but sounding very Trumpian, with talks of “sham” primaries and a “palace coup” against Joe Biden. He castigated Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris for not yet granting media interviews, a common Republican talking point in recent weeks.
Kennedy didn’t quite end his campaign, but says he’s merely suspending it and will remain on ballots in some battleground states. While at one point insisting quixotically that it’s still possible he might end up in the White House, he also said, “In my heart, I no longer believe I have a realistic path to an electoral victory. I am not terminating my campaign. I am simply suspending it.”
At another speech in Arizona, Trump said of Kennedy’s endorsement, “That’s big. He’s a great guy, respected by everybody.”
Kennedy’s endorsement of the Republican candidate was not unexpected: Recent reports have him shopping around for a new side to play on, reaching out to both political parties and meeting with members of the Trump team. Kennedy’s campaign recently said he would make a statement on his “path forward” at today’s speech in Phoenix, Arizona. Trump is holding a rally in Glendale, Arizona, later today.
However unsurprising the endorsement is, from a historical perspective, rather remarkable, putting a man with the famously Blue family name into the Red. Today, Kennedy said the Democratic Party “had departed so dramatically from the core values that I grew up with.” He said the causes for his switch were “free speech, the war in Ukraine and the war on our children,” the latter stemming from his debunked anti-vaccine stances.
Although Kennedy encouraged his followers to vote Trump, he said in some states they could vote for either party. The logic was, to say the least, difficult to follow. A commenter on CNN called it “coo coo for Cocoa Puffs” and, quoting Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles, “authentic frontier gibberish.” The official response from the Democratic National Convention called the speech “a bizarre, rambling announcement,” with DNC senior advisor Mary Beth Cahill adding, “The more voters learned about RFK Jr. the less they liked him. Donald Trump isn’t earning an endorsement that’s going to help build support, he’s inheriting the baggage of a failed fringe candidate. Good riddance.”
Kennedy’s campaign has been beset by more problems than family ties, hurt feelings and a dead bear cub: Just yesterday he officially withdrew from the ballot in Arizona, a not-unexpected outcome given recent news reports of dwindling campaign funds and a ruling by a judge in New York State that tossed out the signatures on his nominating petition because Kennedy had falsely claimed to be a New York resident. The court found that Kennedy actually lived in California with his wife, Curb Your Enthusiasm actor Cheryl Hines, and that the New York address he supplied was not his full time residence.
Today Kennedy described the various state requirements for getting on the ballots as a nearly impenetrable tangle.
Kennedy earlier said he’d fight the ruling, but today’s announcement suggests that battle is all but over.
A statement put out by RFK Jr.’s siblings Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Chris Kennedy and Rory Kennedy, the family called RFK Jr.’s decision to endorse Trump “a betrayal of the values our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.”
Sad indeed!
Tony
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