Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Friday that he was suspending his campaign - with a twist.
Kennedy pushed supporters who live in 10 swing states to back Republican nominee Donald Trump, but said his name would remain on the ballots in traditional red or blue states.
'I would like everyone to know that I am not terminating my campaign, I am simply suspending it and not ending it,' Kennedy said in Arizona on Friday. 'My name will remain on the ballot in most states.'
In long-winded remarks, the nephew of Democratic President John F. Kennedy said he was withdrawing from the race in swing states because, 'I would likely hand the election over to the Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues.'
The confusing announcement was the latest chapter in a 16-month saga that brought brain worms, dog-eating and dead bear cubs into the political vernacular.
Kennedy went scorched earth on his former party, the Democrats, during his Phoenix remarks - but didn't immediately reveal his plans.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Friday that he was suspending his campaign - with a twist. He encouraged backers in swing states to select former President Donald Trump. He made the announcement in Phoenix, Arizona
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (left) and his wife Cheryl Hines (right) during the launch of his independent presidential bid in October in Philadelphia
A young Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (right) with his uncle, President John F. Kennedy (left) in 1961. RFK Jr. left the Democratic Party in October and on Friday endorsed the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump
'I began this journey as a Democrat, the party of my father, my uncle, the party I pledged my allegiance to long before I was old enough to vote,' he reminded the crowd.
Kennedy then blasted the Democratic Party for 'canceling the primary to conceal the cognitive decline of the sitting president.'
He later added that the Democrats 'ran a sham primary that was rigged to prevent any serious challenge to President Biden.'
Once Biden, he said, 'predictably bungled' the debate against Trump, a 'palace coup' took place.
'The same shadowy DNC operatives appointed his successor, also without an election,' Kennedy charged.
'They installed a candidate who was so unpopular with voters that she dropped out in 2020 without winning a single delegate,' Kennedy said.
Kennedy also slammed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for not engaging in a sit-down interview yet.
'My uncle and father both relished debate. They prided themselves on their capacity to go toe-to-toe with any opponent in the battle over ideas,' Kennedy said. 'They would be astonished to learn of the Democratic Party presidential nominee who, like Vice President Harris, has not appeared in a single interview or an unscripted encounter with votesr for 35 days.'
'This is profoundly undemocratic,' Kennedy said. 'How are people to choose when they don't know whom they are choosing?'
He blasted the Democrats for being extra critical of Trump, noting that the GOP nominee was mentioned 147 times during the first day of the just-wrapped Chicago convention.
'Who needs a policy when you have Trump to hate?' he asked.
During his remarks, Kennedy pushed that he had been cheated out of a victory by the system.
'In an honest system, I believe I will have won the election,' he claimed.
Supporters of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. watch as he suspends his presidential campaign Friday from Phoenix, Arizona - nearby where former President Donald Trump is set to appear
Supporters and reporters watch as independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sort of pulled the plug on his campaign. He said he would remove his name from 10 swing state ballots and encouraged supporters there to vote for former President Donald Trump
He also told supporters that there was still a chance he could win - as the election could be tossed to Congress if Harris and Trump tie in the Electoral College count.
But Kennedy explained that he started to consider partnering with Trump when the Republican nominee asked to speak to him about his No. 1 issue - solving chronic disease.
The two met the next day, and then later Kennedy met with Trump and his family members while in Florida.
'I was surprised to discover that we are aligned on many key issues,' Kennedy said.
'In those meetings he suggested we join forces as a unity party,' the independent continued. 'We talked about Abraham Lincoln's Team of Rivals.'
'That arrangement would allow us to disagree publicly and privately and fiercely if need be on issues over which we differ, while working together on the existential issues upon which we are in concordance.'
Trump is speaking in nearby Glendale later Friday and his campaign teased a 'special guest' would join him onstage.
A video of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was leaked that showcases his telephone conversation last month with former President Donald Trump
One of the weirder moments during RFK Jr.'s campaign was his admission earlier this month that he left the corpse of a dead bear cub in New York's Central Park in 2014
That guest was largely believed to be Kennedy.
Earlier while in Las Vegas, the GOP nominee reacted to the Kennedy news.
'We just had a very nice endorsement from RFK junior, Bobby.. And I will be talking about that. We are heading out right after this. We will be going to Arizona. We will be talking about that and lot of other things too,' Trump said. 'But I just want to thank everybody and I want to thank Bobby.'
'That was very nice, that was really very nice,' the GOP nominee said. 'That's big. He's a great guy, respected by everybody.'
DailyMail.com polling suggests that RFK Jr.'s exit could give the Republican a boost.
Kennedy's siblings - who support Harris - released a joint statement slamming their brother's decision.
'Our brother Bobby's decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear,' said Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Chris Kennedy and Rory Kennedy.
A number of other Kennedy family members work in the current Biden administration.
RFK Jr.'s father - Sen. Robert F. Kennedy - was campaigning for the Democratic nomination and had just won California's primary when he was assassinated in 1968.
Kennedy's siblings put out a joint statement condemning his endorsement of former President Donald Trump calling it a 'betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear'
Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy, posted to X Friday: 'Never been less surprised in my life'
Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy, posted to X Friday: 'Never been less surprised in my life.'
'Been saying it for over a year - RFKjr is for sale, works for Trump. Bedfellows and loving it,' Schlossberg said. 'Kamala Harris is for the people - the easiest decision of all time just go easier.'
Schlossberg spoke this week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
In the lead-up to the convention, The Washington Post reported that Kennedy had reached out to those in Harris' orbit to see if he could be appointed to a job within her administration, perhaps a Cabinet position, in exchange for dropping out.
The Democrats called the effort laughable.
On Friday, the Democratic National Committee continued to trash Kennedy.
'The more voters learned about RFK Jr., the less they liked him,' Senior Advisor Mary Beth Cahill said. 'Donald Trump isn't earning an endorsement that's going to help build support, he's inheriting the baggage of a failed fringe candidate. Good riddance.'
The Harris-Walz campaign chose a slightly different tact, welcoming Kennedy's supporters into the fold.
'For any American out there who is tired of Donald Trump and looking for a new way forward, ours is a campaign for you,' Harris-Walz 2024 Campaign Chair Jen O'Malley Dillon said. 'In order to deliver for working people and those who feel left behind, we need a leader who will fight for you, not just for themselves, and bring us together, not tear us apart. Vice President Harris wants to earn your support.'
'Even if we do not agree on every issue, Kamala Harris knows there is more that unites us than divides us: respect for our rights, public safety, protecting our freedoms, and opportunity for all,' O'Malley Dillon added.
Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver also made a play for Kennedy votes.
'By leaving the ballot in some states and staying on in others, RFK Jr. is showing he lacks the seriousness to be president: You are either running or you aren't,' Oliver said in a statement. 'By removing himself from the most competitive state ballots, RFK Jr. is effectively saying he doesn't want the job he's running for. I do want the job.'
At one point, RFK Jr. had flirted with trying to earn the Libertarian Party's nomination - which would ensure him a spot on ballots across the country - but convention goers chose Oliver as their candidate.
Kennedy's own wife, Cheryl Hines, posted excitedly in 2020 when Biden picked Harris to be VP.
'One small step for woman, one giant leap for womankind,' the Curb Your Enthusiasm actress posted on Instagram, tagging it #inspired.
In a statement Friday, she said, 'I deeply respect the decision Bobby made to run on the principle of unity.'
'Over the last year and a half, I have met some extraordinary people from all parties — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents,' Hines said. 'It's been my experience that the vast majority of all parties are truly good people who want the best for our country and for each other.'
Kennedy's wife Cheryl Hines (right), who formerly supported Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement Friday after her husband backed Trump: ''I deeply respect the decision Bobby made to run on the principle of unity'
'It has been an eye-opening, transformative, and endearing journey,' the actress added.
Her husband conceded in a follow-up post that his wife wasn't fully on board with this decision.
'I am so grateful to my amazing wife Cheryl for her unconditional love, as I made a political decision with which she is very uncomfortable,' he admitted.
Ahead of Friday's big announcement, a court filing beat Kennedy to the punch.
In Pennsylvania, Kennedy put in writing that he planned to endorse Trump, according to the Associated Press.
He also requested to be removed from Pennsylvania's ballot.
The news broke as journalists waited for the candidate to speak, after he had similary withdrawn from Arizona's ballot.
Earlier Friday, Kennedy's running mate, Nicole Shanahan, cast some doubt that a Trump endorsement would happen, telling podcast host Adam Carolla that Trump needed to apologize for his COVID-19 response.
'The hesitation we have right now in joining forces with Trump is that he has not apologized or publicly come out and said Operation Warp Speed was my fault, was a failure and I let it happen,' Shanahan said.
Operation Warp Speed was Trump's public-private partnership for the swift development of COVID-19 vaccines.
Trump, rightly, took credit for Operation Warp Speed and he and his allies expressed dismay when the fruits of that labor - Pfizer's announcement that the vaccine prevented more than 90 percent of infections - didn't come out until after Election Day 2020.
Since then, with vaccine skepticism on the rise on the political right, Trump has distanced himself from the COVID vaccine.
Shanahan said Trump needed to apologize for the COVID lockdowns and for keeping Dr. Anthony Fauci as a top adviser too.
'There was a lot that happened under Donald Trump's watch that should not have happened and cannot happen again,' she told Carolla. 'And if we are going to put our bet with him - and we haven't, we have not confirmed anything - we need absolute assurance.'
Shanahan wasn't onstage during the Friday announcement.
