RFK Jr quits presidential race and endorses Donald Trump
23 August 2024, 20:58
Robert F Kennedy Jr, nephew of assassinated former president JFK and the son of Bobby Kennedy, has quit the presidential race and endorsed Donald Trump.
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Speaking at a news conference on Friday, the independent candidate said the Democratic Party was no longer "champions of the constitution" and "dramatically" moved away from its "core values."
Hitting out at the Democratic Party and the media, Mr Kennedy claimed he would have won the race in an “honest system” but praised his campaign team for “pulling off a miracle.”
"You showed everyone democracy is still possible here," he said.
"Today I'm here to tell you I will not allow your efforts to go to waste."
He accused the Biden administration of launching a “legal war” against former President Trump and accused Kamala Harris of avoiding key policy questions.
He also said of Democrats: "Who needs a policy when you have Trump to hate?"
Mr Kennedy is expected to speak at a Trump rally later today, according to Sky News.
The wider Kennedy family has slammed his decision to back the Republican nominee.
A statement from his brothers and sisters said: "We want an America filled with hope and bound together by a shared vision of a brighter future, a future defined by individual freedom, economic promise and national pride.
"We believe in Harris and Walz.
"Our brother Bobby's decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear.
"It is a sad ending to a sad story."
Despite claiming to be a lifelong Democrat, Mr Kennedy ran his campaign at odds with many of their policies.
At one point, RFK Jr compared the Covid-19 vaccine rollout to laws in Nazi Germany.
"Even in Hitler's Germany, you could cross the Alps into Switzerland, you could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did," he said in 2022,
"Today, the mechanisms are being put in place that will make it so none of us can run, and none of us can hide."
