Within the spring of 2023, not lengthy after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched his chaotic presidential marketing campaign, I requested him an easy query. What do you see as extra dangerous to America: one other time period of Joe Biden, or Donald Trump returning to energy? “I can’t reply that,” Kennedy replied.
This morning, Kennedy lastly stopped being cagey. He introduced that he was suspending his marketing campaign and throwing his assist to Trump. Throughout a rambling, practically hour-long speech on the Renaissance Lodge in downtown Phoenix, Kennedy shared that the 2 had been speaking for greater than a month, and that he had visited the previous president at Mar-a-Lago. “In a sequence of lengthy, intense discussions, I used to be shocked to find that we’re aligned on many key points,” Kennedy mentioned. He appropriately famous that his announcement would trigger “issue” for his members of the family. “Our brother Bobby’s choice to endorse Trump immediately is a betrayal of the values that our father and household maintain most expensive,” 5 Kennedys mentioned in a press release this afternoon. “It’s a unhappy ending to a tragic story.”
Kennedy’s evolution from member of a Democratic dynasty to a soldier within the anti-democratic MAGA motion will little question confuse informal observers. Trump as soon as known as Kennedy the “dumbest member” of his well-known household and Kennedy as soon as steered that Trump was a sociopath. The principle motive for Kennedy’s conversion could also be pure desperation. This summer season, Kennedy made overtures to each major-party candidates; solely Trump reciprocated. However the Trump-Kennedy pairing makes a sure type of sense. To make certain, Kennedy doesn’t share Trump’s anti-immigrant sentiment, nor does he lean on white-identity politics or nationalism. As a substitute, it’s Kennedy’s conspiratorial, anti-establishment, burn-it-down ethos that makes him match into the MAGA universe.
On the lodge, I observed Jim Hoft, the founding father of the far-right web site The Gateway Pundit, sitting within the entrance row, only a few toes from the stage. “I believe it’ll be big,” Hoft mentioned of Kennedy’s Trump endorsement. “I align with Robert, in all probability, on a majority of matters—it’s simply attention-grabbing how that’s enjoying out proper now. I believe he’s a pure ally for Trump. I believe it’s going to assist Trump tremendously.”
As Kennedy lashed out in opposition to the Democratic Get together this afternoon, he appeared like a jilted lover trying to find solutions. He famous that he had attended his first Democratic Nationwide Conference on the age of six, in 1960. And he tried to attract a distinction between the social gathering of his father and uncle, and immediately’s “shadowy DNC operatives” who staged “a palace coup” in opposition to Joe Biden. The Democratic institution, he claimed, had weaponized authorities companies in opposition to him and his marketing campaign. He accused Biden of colluding with media firms to “censor” him and bemoaned his relative lack of cable-news interviews. He additionally sounded daft. “In an trustworthy system, I consider that I might have gained the election,” Kennedy mentioned.
Three key elements compelled Kennedy’s withdrawal. The primary and most evident was cash. Regardless of tapping Nicole Shanahan, the rich Silicon Valley businesswoman, to be his working mate, Kennedy’s fundraising had not too long ago dried up. Current FEC filings confirmed that his marketing campaign had simply $3.9 million readily available on the finish of July. The second issue was poll entry. Nick Brana, the marketing campaign’s ballot-access director, informed me that, as of immediately, the Kennedy-Shanahan ticket was licensed in solely 22 states. Kennedy was not too long ago disqualified from the New York poll after a current courtroom case, making the objective of all 50 states a digital impossibility. The third issue was maybe the obvious: His core proposition had turn out to be moot as soon as Biden dropped out.
All alongside, Kennedy’s pitch had relied on the truth that a large chunk of voters didn’t need a Biden-Trump rematch. However after Harris took Biden’s place because the nominee, she started to win again among the disaffected Democrats, independents, and undecideds who had “parked” their assist within the Kennedy column. Kennedy’s polling common had fallen to about 5 p.c, from a 2024 excessive of about 10 p.c. Kennedy shared that his crew’s polling confirmed him drawing extra votes from Trump than from Harris in battleground states—one thing exterior pollsters had confirmed to me earlier this month.
My conversations with Kennedy confidants, staffers, and supporters earlier than and after the occasion painted a murky image of what’s subsequent for his motion. Jeffrey Rose, Kennedy’s pal of 30 years, had tears in his eyes as we spoke. “The DNC invited this,” Rose mentioned. “As a Democrat, it’s not simple for me.” I requested him if he deliberate to observe Kennedy’s directive and vote for Trump. “What alternative do I’ve?” he replied. Rose was among the many Kennedy allies who would quickly head to the close by Trump rally, the place Kennedy could be the particular visitor. Daniel Adams, who had helped elevate cash for Kennedy’s tremendous PAC, American Values, informed me that he anticipated “most” RFK Jr. supporters to pivot to Trump, however acknowledged that Trump’s vaccine coverage had been a supply of dissatisfaction. Casey Westerman, a 38-year-old supporter in a blue Kennedy hat, mentioned she had voted for Trump in 2020 and 2016, and had been drawn to Kennedy this cycle due to his messages about “company seize” of the CDC and FDA. “I belief Kennedy,” Westerman mentioned. “Whoever he chooses to assist is who I’ll assist.”
Others had been much less dedicated. Dicky Barrett, the previous lead singer of the ’90s ska band the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, was milling concerning the room with a glance of resignation on his face. “On the earth because it at the moment is, nothing surprises me anymore,” Barrett informed me. “What I needed in the end, and nonetheless need, is for Bobby to be the forty seventh president of america. Something wanting that, I haven’t correctly processed.” Barrett mentioned he didn’t need Kennedy to endorse Trump. “I’ve nice admiration, big respect, and plenty of love for Bobby Kennedy. He was there for me once I wanted him—I don’t have that for the opposite candidates on this race. Even remotely.”
Drea de Matteo, who gained an Emmy for her function as Adriana on The Sopranos, was amongst these scheduled to partake in a “star-studded sundown cruise” with Kennedy and his spouse, Cheryl Hines, subsequent week in Southern California. At present she was in Phoenix to lend her assist. De Matteo informed me that she’s a lifelong liberal, however described herself as “anti-government.” She mentioned she had by no means voted earlier than 2020, when she voted for Biden, which had been a “big” mistake. “I don’t know what I’m going to do but,” she mentioned of her 2024 plans. “I’m gonna go to this rally immediately and I’ll make up my thoughts.” (It could be her first Trump rally.) “I believe most Individuals need an impartial candidate now, as a result of nobody believes in both social gathering,” she added. Kennedy, she mentioned, had been “fully, for lack of a greater phrase, cock-blocked by the DNC.” She informed me she was at the very least keen to listen to Trump out.
Kennedy’s marketing campaign was constructed on contradictions. Though he has probably the most recognizable names in politics, he pitched himself as a benevolent outsider, a unifier, and sometimes leaned into one thing akin to earthy mysticism. I interviewed him at size each this yr and final yr. He could be admirably candid one minute and obfuscate or lie the following (particularly when discussing his file on vaccines). He would draw false equivalencies and peddle misinformation. On the stump, Kennedy used to speak concerning the divisions that gave the impression to be chopping American society into items. It doesn’t must be this fashion, he’d say. Now, sticking to his contradictory theme, he’s thrown in his lot with probably the most divisive determine in current historical past.
On the Trump rally tonight, Kennedy walked out to Foo Fighters’ stadium-rock anthem “My Hero” and shook Trump’s hand. The gang roared. Not too way back, Kennedy known as Trump “a horrible human being.” Tonight he bent the knee, asking, “Don’t you need a president who’s going to guard America’s freedoms and who’s going to guard us in opposition to totalitarianism?”
Like the person he’s simply endorsed, Kennedy has an outsize ego, a tenuous grasp of actuality, and is given to weird turns of phrase. “The naysayers informed us that we had been climbing a glass model of Mount Unattainable,” Kennedy mentioned on the Renaissance Lodge immediately. Shortly thereafter, he steered he might nonetheless turn out to be president as the results of a contingent election, if no candidate obtained the requisite 270 electoral votes. “This can be a non secular journey for me,” Kennedy mentioned. He could not consider it’s over, however the ending has come into sight. Was it definitely worth the trek?
