Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspends presidential campaign; removes himself from 10 battleground states

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suspended his bid for the presidency.

He threw his support behind Trump in a court filing in Pennsylvania before he made his announcement Friday afternoon, The Associated Press reported. The court filing was in reference to a ballot access challenge in the state, CNN reported.

His campaign had also asked to be removed from the Keystone State’s ballot. He said in his news conference that he will remain on several state ballots but has removed his name or will remove his name from 10 battleground states.

Kennedy spoke in Phoenix just miles from where former President Donald Trump was holding a rally in nearby Glendale, Arizona. Kennedy called the announcement “the present historical moment and his path forward.”

Trump had teased that a “special guest” would be joining him on stage during his event later Friday and it was expected to be Kennedy since their two events were close by, CNN reported.

During the campaign initially, Trump had called Kennedy, who comes from a massive Democratic family, “the most radical left candidate in the race” while Kennedy has said Trump had betrayed the MAGA faithful, the AP reported.

But the pair have changed their rhetoric to being complementary and have been having behind-the-scenes discussions recently, both suggesting that they could combine forces to beat Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

Kennedy had already pulled his name from the Arizona ballot earlier this week, the AP reported. He had already submitted enough names to be included, but some critics questioned if all of the signatures were valid and if they were collected within the election rules governing candidates and independent political groups.

Kennedy had about 2% of supporters polled 74 days before the Nov. 5 Election Day, CNN reported.

Check back for more on this developing story.

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