Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. suspended his Independent bid for the 2024 U.S. presidential race and announced support for former President Donald Trump on Friday.
Initially, Kennedy attempted to challenge against President Joe Biden in the Democratic Primary, but later accused the party of an all out effort to thwart his campaign. During his announcement, Kennedy blasted the current state of the Democratic Party and the mainstream media, saying they held a “sham” primary.
“In an honest system, I believe I would have won the election,” Kennedy said. “In a system with open debates, with fair primaries … and with a truly independent media untainted by government propaganda and censorship, everything would be different.”
RFK Jr: "The mainstream media was once the guardian of the First Amendment and Democratic principles, and it's joined this systemic attack on Democracy." pic.twitter.com/Vf0bZ9E5O8
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 23, 2024
The Trump campaign released a memo shortly after the announcement making the argument that the support behind Kennedy will now converge around Trump:
“[T]he net vote gained in a state like Arizona based on just a 2020 turnout model would be over 41,000 votes, nearly 4 times Biden’s winning margin,” the memo said. “Or in Georgia the net gain would be over 19,000 votes, nearly twice Biden’s margin.”
During a recent interview on CNN, Trump said he would certainly consider appointing RFK to a role in his administration if he wins the election.
“He’s a brilliant guy. He’s a very smart guy. I’ve known him for a very long time,” Trump said. “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.”
According to the latest polls, Kennedy was a long shot to win as he was only getting 4.6% support nationally.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
