Robert F Kennedy Jr withdraws from US presidential race in Arizona ahead of expected Donald Trump endorsement
23 August 2024, 14:18
Robert F Kennedy Jr - an independent US presidential candidate - has filed paperwork to withdraw from the presidential race in Arizona ahead of his expected announcement dropping out from the race for the White House.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The 70-year-old is believed to be pulling out of the race to endorse Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump.
Kennedy - the nephew of the late President John F Kennedy and son of attorney general Robert F Kennedy - is reportedly angling for a senior job in the future Replican administration.
Trump previosuly admitted to CNN earlier in the week that he would "certainly be open" to Kennedy playing a role in his cabinet should the independent candidate drop out and back him.
Kennedy has been polling at five per cent nationally and has endured a somewhat turmoltuous and baffling campaig where he has admitted to dumping a dead bear cub in Central Park, denied eating a dog, and brushed off sexual assault allegations.
Read More: 'Yes she can!': Obamas endorse Kamala Harris - as Barack warns a Trump ‘sequel’ would be worse
Kennedy - a former environmental lawyer - and his running mate Nicole Shanahan - a Silicon Valley attorney - have now issued a “voluntary withdrawal” from the November election ballot in Arizona, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said.
He will also deliver a speech in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday trailed as a look at his "path forward".
Kennedy has largely centred his campaign on small-state liberalism, a rejection of large corporations, and providing an alternative to Republicans and Democrats.
While Kennedy has only been polling at around five per cent nationwide, both the Harris and Trump campaigns will scramble to pick up his supporters as it will likely help push them over the line in the handful of swing states.
According to a Wall Street Journal poll around half of Kennedy's voters would flock to Trump and another quarter would go to Kamala Harris.
Kennedy made a baffling admission earlier this month where he explained how he dumped a dead bear cub in New York's Central Park and made it look as though it had been run over by a cyclist.
He released a strange video on social media where he confessed to dumping the animal over a decade ago, leaving it to be found by an elderly dog walker who alerted police.
In the video, Kennedy recounts to actor Roseanne Barr how he found the dead bear while on a falconry expedition in New York's Hudson Valley after it had been struck and killed by another driver.
Back in 2014, the discovery of the female black bear in some bushes by a dog captivated the city.
Florence Slatkin, a local resident, mentioned that her friend’s terrier initially thought the bear was a bag of clothes or a dead dog.
As they approached, they realized it was a small bear with its mouth wide open and scratches on its side.
A post-mortem found the bear had trauma to its body but it was not clear how it had died. This prompted an investigation that was never solved until Kennedy's recent admission.
