Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met with former President Donald Trump during last week’s Republican National Convention about a possible Cabinet position for the independent candidate.
On the sidelines of the convention, Kennedy reportedly spoke with Trump and his team about lining up behind the former president if he could obtain a position in a future administration, according to the Washington Post.
However, the conversations ended with no future action planned as Trump officials expressed concern about the complications of offering a job in exchange for Kennedy’s endorsement.
“All I will say to you is I am willing to talk to anybody from either political party who wants to talk about children’s health and how to end the chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy told the outlet about the meeting. “I have a lot of respect for President Trump for reaching out to me. Nobody from the DNC, high or low, has ever reached out to me in 18 months. Instead, they have allocated millions to try to disrupt my campaign.”
The conversations are out of public character as both men have bashed each other on the campaign trail. Kennedy recently called out Trump for including corporate leaders in his previous administration, and Trump has often labeled Kennedy far-left.
The talks began with a group text message sent by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that included Kennedy and Trump. Both men then talked on the phone that night, the same day of Trump’s assassination attempt. They then talked the week of the RNC.
“President Trump met with RFK, and they had a conversation about the issues just as he does regularly with important figures in business and politics because they all recognize he will be the next president of the United States,” Trump spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez told the outlet.
Ultimately, Trump advisers decided that a vaccine-critic would not be appropriate in a position overseeing a “portfolio of health and medical issues.” A phone call between Kennedy and Trump was leaked last week and revealed the former president agreeing with Kennedy on concerns that children have been harmed by the current mandated schedule of vaccines. Trump said doses were too large in volume.
Kennedy later apologized for the leak.
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Despite the talks, Kennedy told the Washington Post that he plans to continue his campaign, saying, “We are in it to win it.” In the same report, Trump apparently weighed whether to name Kennedy his vice president because the Trump-Kennedy ticket “has a nice ring to it,” but his advisers were against the idea.
According to the RealClearPolitics polling average between Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump, Kennedy, and other candidates, Kennedy garners 10.5% support.