Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he will speak Friday “about the present historical moment and his path forward”—a speech that will come just days after his running mate hinted their campaign is thinking about ending its run to “join forces” with former President Donald Trump.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he’ll speak about his future Friday as rumors of him dropping out of ... [+]
Kennedy’s team did not provide more detail on what he would discuss Friday, but the announcement comes one day after his running mate Nicole Shanahan said in an interview Kennedy was considering ending his presidential bid and supporting Trump.
Shanahan said it was a hard decision for the campaign, which is also considering staying in the race and trying to get 5% of the popular vote to create an alternative to Republicans and Democrats, though she said that could risk hurting Trump.
Kennedy has struggled to garner support throughout his campaign and, as of Wednesday, averaged 4.9% in national polls and had an unfavorability rating 6.6 percentage points higher than his favorable marks, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Kennedy and Shanahan have also struggled to fundraise: More than half of what they raised in July came from Shanahan, Politico reported, and the pair ended July with just $3.9 million in cash and $3.5 million in debt.
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The speech will be livestreamed on X, formerly known as Twitter, and other social media platforms at 2 p.m. EDT the Kennedy campaign said in a press release.
After Shanahan’s interview was posted, Trump said on CNN he wasn’t aware Kennedy was considering withdrawing from the race, but that he would consider tapping him for a role in his second administration if elected. Kennedy met with Trump in July to reportedly discuss endorsing him, but the conversation ended in part because Kennedy was after a job in the Trump administration and Trump’s team was wary of promising a job in exchange for an endorsement, according to The Washington Post.
Kennedy announced in April 2023 he would be seeking the Democratic nomination for president, but switched to running as an independent candidate in October 2023. Since then, both parties have feared he could take enough votes from them to sway the election, which is expected to be highly contested. But The Washington Post reported that since President Joe Biden left the race in July, Kennedy’s presence has been negatively impacting Trump more than Vice President Kamala Harris, who took over the Democratic nomination from Biden. In the time following the switch, Kennedy—who was once polling as high as 10%—has not polled higher than 5.7%, according to FiveThirtyEight.
- That’s the number of states Kennedy and Shanahan are officially on the ballot in, his campaign said Friday. They have submitted signatures to be on the ballot in 21 other states and say they have collected enough signatures in four other states.