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Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Phoenix, Arizona, August 23, 2024. Robert F. Kennedy Jr, scion of America's storied political clan, suspended his long shot presidential bid on August 23, 2024 and endorsed Donald Trump, injecting a new dose of uncertainty into the White House race. Olivier Touron, AFP

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Phoenix, Arizona, August 23, 2024. Robert F. Kennedy Jr, scion of America's storied political clan, suspended his long shot presidential bid on August 23, 2024 and endorsed Donald Trump, injecting a new dose of uncertainty into the White House race. (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP)

Article (news)

US ELECTIONS

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1724478859678AFP__20240823__36EQ8L4__v1__Preview__UsVotePoliticsKennedy.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Phoenix, Arizona, August 23, 2024. Olivier Touron, AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Phoenix, Arizona, August 23, 2024. <em>Olivier Touron, AFP</em></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">GLENDALE, United States -- Robert F. Kennedy Jr, scion of America&#x27;s storied political clan, suspended his long-shot presidential bid on Friday and endorsed Donald Trump, injecting new uncertainty into the White House race.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;I no longer believe that I have a realistic path of electoral victory,&quot; Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist who was polling in the low single digits, said at a press conference in swing state Arizona.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Kennedy, 70, condemned the selection of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic standard-bearer without a primary contest and cited a long list of grievances against his former party that he said had led him to now &quot;throw my support to president Trump.&quot;</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Kennedy failed to get on the ballot in even half of the 50 US states and his independent candidacy featured a number of bizarre twists -- including his claim to be suffering from a parasitic brain worm and a story about dumping a dead bear cub in Central Park.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">It also drew the opposition of most of his famous family.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;Our brother Bobby&#x27;s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear,&quot; five of his siblings said in a joint statement in which they endorsed Harris. &quot;It is a sad ending to a sad story.&quot;</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Kennedy&#x27;s withdrawal came a day after the surging Harris gave an electrifying speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, accepting the party&#x27;s nomination and embarking on the final 10-week sprint to election day on November 5.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/8/23/harris-vows-to-be-president-for-all-americans-in-convention-climax-1101"></a><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/8/23/harris-vows-to-be-president-for-all-americans-in-convention-climax-1101">READ: Harris vows &#x27;new way forward&#x27; for America as she accepts nomination</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/8/22/democratic-vp-pick-tim-walz-accepts-nomination-at-party-convention-1137"></a><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/8/22/democratic-vp-pick-tim-walz-accepts-nomination-at-party-convention-1137">READ: Democratic VP pick Tim Walz accepts nomination at party convention</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><strong>- &#x27;He&#x27;s a great guy&#x27; -</strong></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Analysts are mixed on the effect Kennedy&#x27;s exit will have on the presidential race and how much of his supporters will gravitate to Trump or Harris.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">However, in a very tight contest, it is possible that even a few thousand votes in a crucial swing state could determine who wins the White House, as both sides chase the sliver of undecideds.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">At a Trump rally in Glendale there were repeated references by speakers including Charlie Kirk and Kari Lake to a MAGA movement they said welcomes all, including disaffected Democrats.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Within minutes of taking the stage, Trump was welcoming Kennedy to the microphone, accompanied by pyrotechnics and &quot;My Hero&quot; by the Foo Fighters.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">A slightly uncomfortable-looking Kennedy told the cheering crowd he wanted to work with a future President Trump to get &quot;the chemicals out of our food.&quot;</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Trump heaped praise on Kennedy, saying they would &quot;fight together to defeat the corrupt political establishment and return control of this country to the people.&quot;</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">He also used Kennedy&#x27;s appearance to announce the formation of what he called an &quot;independent presidential commission on assassination attempts.&quot;</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;They will be tasked with releasing all of the remaining documents pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy,&quot; he said.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The 1963 killing of the president -- Robert F Kennedy Jr&#x27;s uncle -- continues to fascinate much of the country, and remains the subject of myriad conspiracy theories.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Kennedy&#x27;s voters are also in the sights of the Harris campaign, with campaign chair Jen O&#x27;Malley Dillon saying the Democrat &quot;wants to earn your support.&quot;</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;Even if we do not agree on every issue, Kamala Harris knows there is more that unites us than divides us,&quot; she said.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/8/21/-yes-she-can-obama-says-us-ready-for-a-harris-presidency-1152"></a><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/8/21/-yes-she-can-obama-says-us-ready-for-a-harris-presidency-1152">READ: Obama says US ready for a Harris presidency</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><strong>- Neck and neck -</strong></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Harris and Trump are neck and neck in the polls less than three weeks before their September 10 debate in Philadelphia.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Harris, 59, a former senator from California and prosecutor, left the Democratic convention in Chicago with momentum, having outraised Trump and erased the polling leads he enjoyed before she replaced President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket last month.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In just a month, Harris, the first Black woman to top a major party ticket, has raised a record-breaking half-billion dollars.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Her campaign got another potential boost Friday when Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the &quot;time has come&quot; for an interest rate cut -- a move that will lower mortgage costs.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><strong>- &#x27;Unserious&#x27; -</strong></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Trump, 78, has been mobilizing his right-wing base with apocalyptic warnings about migrant criminals and painting a dark picture of a country in &quot;decline&quot; that only he can save.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Harris and her Democrats have been reaching toward the center.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Party strategists spent the week in Chicago showcasing a parade of anti-Trump Republicans, including ex-cabinet officials, a small-town mayor and a former statewide office holder.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you&#x27;re not a Democrat, you&#x27;re a patriot,&quot; former Georgia lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan said.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">While they previously characterized Trump as a demagogue, Democrats have instead begun making fun of the Republican nominee in a manner designed to belittle him and dent his aura of invincibility.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Harris, for her part, called him an &quot;unserious&quot; person.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></span></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ioI4B395sog?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Robert F. Kennedy Jr, scion of America's storied political clan, suspended his long-shot presidential bid on Friday and endorsed Donald Trump, injecting new uncertainty into the White House race.</p>

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, scion of America's storied political clan, suspended his long-shot presidential bid on Friday and endorsed Donald Trump, injecting new uncertainty into the White House race.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr suspends fringe White House bid, endorses Trump

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr suspends fringe White House bid, endorses Trump

Agence France-Presse,

Olivier Touron

Published August 24, 2024 01:56 PM PHT

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Updated August 24, 2024 03:08 PM PHT

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US elections

US politics

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kamala Harris

Donald Trump

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