The Making of the President 2024: Robert Kennedy Jr. Suspends His Campaign
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of Robert Kennedy, who served as Attorney General in his brother's cabinet, Senator from New York and whose own campaign for President was ended by an assassin's bullet in June of 1968. His uncle-by-marriage, Sargent Shriver, was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 1972 and his uncle Ted Kennedy ran for his party's nomination in 1980 but was defeated in the primaries by then-incumbent president Jimmy Carter.
On March 3, 2023, Robert Kennedy Jr. gave in a speech at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics in which he publicly stated that he was considering a run for president in 2024. A month later, on April 5, 2023, Kennedy filed papers for his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission and he formally declared his candidacy at a campaign launch event at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston on April 19, 2023.
Early in his campaign, Kennedy expressed his belief that he might be killed by the CIA. In fact there have been multiple threats to Kennedy's life during his election campaign, including from an armed man impersonating a US Marshal who was arrested at a Los Angeles campaign events. An intruder attempted to unlawfully enter his Brentwood home, and managed to get over its fence and into its yard before being detained by Kennedy's personal security detail. Kennedy's requests for Secret Service protection were denied. Analyses performed by CNN and WJNO radio have found that Kennedy had not been treated differently than other presidential candidates because he had not yet met the requirements to automatically receive Secret Service protection. However shortly after the July 13, 2024 attempted assassination of Republican candidate Donald Trump, President Biden ordered the Secret Service to provide protection for Kennedy.
Kennedy's campaign received financial backing from Republican sources said to be associated with former President Donald Trump. About fifty percent of the total funds raised by American Values 2024, the super PAC that is supporting Kennedy's campaign, were contributed by Timothy Mellon, a Republican mega-donor and Trump supporter.
On September 29, 2023, it was reported that Kennedy was reorienting his campaign to run as an independent rather than as a Democrat, and on October 9, 2023, he confirmed this to be the case. He announced that he would be continuing his presidential bid as an independent candidate. The announcement took place at an event held in Philadelphia. In his announcement speech, Kennedy criticized the Democratic and Republican parties, stating that the two function as a "uniparty." Kennedy was polling around the low double digits while running for the Democratic nomination. After Kennedy made this decision, his campaign experienced turnover in a number of key positions. Campaign manager Dennis Kucinich stepped down, and Stefanie Spear later resigned as communications director.
On February 11, 2024, during Super Bowl LVIII, the American Values 2024 super PAC ran a 30-second ad in support of Kennedy consisting of an edited version of a 1960 campaign ad for John F. Kennedy, using the same jingle and replacing John F. Kennedy's images with those of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. It was the only campaign ad which aired nationally during the game and reportedly cost US$7 million.
Kennedy chose Attorney and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan as his running mate for vice president on March 26, 2024. Following the announcement, the campaign said it would work on ballot access in 19 states where a running mate is a precondition for being on the ballot. It was reported that Shanahan was chosen over others on Kennedy's shortlist, including former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbad, U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, professional football player Aaron Rogers, former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang, Gabbard said that Kennedy offered her the vice presidential position, but she "respectfully declined" the offer.
In April 2023, it was reported that Roger Stone and others had promoted the idea of a Trump-Kennedy ticket, but Kennedy said that he would not join such a ticket, stating that both Trump's and Biden's policies had failed. In January 2024, Kennedy confirmed that Trump's team had reached out to him about possibly serving as vice president. Kennedy declined and also stated that he would not accept it if offered it again.
On July 16, 2024, Kennedy's son leaked a private phone call between Kennedy and Trump during which Trump seemingly attempted to coax Kennedy into supporting him, stating "I would love you to do something. And I think it'll be so good for you and so big for you. And we're going to win", to which Kennedy replied, "yeah." This fueled rumors of some sort of Trump merger, and that Trump might offer Kennedy a position in his cabinet.
On August 20, 2024, in a podcast interview, Shanahan accused the Democratic Party of sabotaging their campaign and suggested that the Kennedy campaign would endorse Trump. Shanahan said that they could either stay in the race but added"
"[If we do that,] we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Walz presidency, as we draw votes from Trump - we draw somehow more votes from Trump. Or we walk away, right now, and join forces with Donald Trump, and we walk away from that and explain to our base why we are making this decision. Not easy."
Shanahan further stated that they were not in talks with Harris, but said they were in contact with the Trump team about a second Trump term. It was suggested that Kennedy could serve in a Trump cabinet as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The next day, on August 21, 2024, the Kennedy campaign announced that it would hold a press conference in Phoenix on August 23 detailing the future of the campaign. This announcement was made as the 2024 Democratic National Convention was taking place. Sources told ABC News that Kennedy was considering dropping out by the end of the week and endorsing Trump, with hopes to blunt the momentum from the convention.
On August 23, Kennedy held a press conference in Phoenix, Arizona, where he announced he would suspend his campaign and endorse Trump. Kennedy said he was "suspending" and "not ending" his campaign, and encouraged his supporters to still vote for him in solidly blue and red states, but to vote for Trump in swing states. He floated the possibility of a scenario in which no one gets 270 electoral votes and he could still win. Later that night, he spoke at a Trump rally in Glendale, Arizona and appeared onstage with Trump.
Kennedy's campaign had been drawing significant support from Republican donors and Trump allies who believe he would draw enough votes from Democratic candidates. Kennedy's campaign has received significantly more money from donors who previously supported Trump than Biden.