Why RFK Jr. Supported Trump

In the spring of 2023, not long after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had begun his chaotic presidential campaign, I asked him a simple question. What do you see as more damaging to America: another term for Joe Biden or a return of Donald Trump to power? “I can’t answer that,” Kennedy replied.

This morning, Kennedy finally ended his secrecy. He announced that he was suspending his campaign and endorsing Trump. During a rambling, nearly hour-long speech at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Phoenix, Kennedy said the two had been speaking for more than a month and that he had visited the former president at Mar-a-Lago. “Through a series of long, intense discussions, I was surprised to discover that we agree on many important issues,” Kennedy said. He rightly noted that his announcement would cause “difficulties” for his family members. “Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values ​​our father and family hold most dear,” five Kennedys said in a statement this afternoon. “It is a sad ending to a sad story.”

Kennedy’s evolution from member of a Democratic dynasty to soldier in the anti-democratic MAGA movement will undoubtedly be confusing to casual observers. Trump once called Kennedy the “dumbest member” of his famous family, and Kennedy once suggested that Trump was a sociopath. Perhaps the most important reason for Kennedy’s conversion is sheer desperation. This summer, Kennedy made overtures to both major-party candidates; only Trump did so. But the Trump-Kennedy pairing makes sense on some level. Kennedy certainly doesn’t share Trump’s anti-immigrant sentiments, nor does he lean into white identity politics or nationalism. Instead, it’s Kennedy’s conspiracy-theory, anti-establishment, burn-it-down ethos that makes him a natural fit for the MAGA universe.

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At the hotel I saw Jim Hoft, the founder of the far-right website The Gateway Punditsitting in the front row, just a few feet from the podium. “I think it’s going to be huge,” Hoft said of Kennedy’s Trump endorsement. “I probably agree with Robert on most issues — it’s just interesting how that’s playing out now. I think he’s a natural ally for Trump. I think it’s going to help Trump tremendously.”

When Kennedy lashed out at the Democratic Party this afternoon, he sounded like a spurned lover looking for answers. He noted that he had attended his first Democratic National Convention at age 6, in 1960. And he sought to contrast the party of his father and uncle with the current “shady DNC operatives” who have staged “a palace coup” against Joe Biden. The Democratic establishment, he alleged, had marshaled government agencies against him and his campaign. He accused Biden of conspiring with corporate media to “censor” him and lamented his relative lack of cable news interviews. He also sounded foolish. “In a fair system, I believe I would have won the election,” Kennedy said.

Three major factors forced Kennedy’s withdrawal. The first and most obvious was money. Despite having tapped Nicole Shanahan, the wealthy Silicon Valley businesswoman, as his running mate, Kennedy’s fundraising had recently dried up. Recent FEC filings showed his campaign had raised just $3.9 million as of late July. The second factor was ballot access. Nick Brana, the campaign’s director of ballot access, told me that the Kennedy-Shanahan ticket had been certified in only 22 states to date. Kennedy was disqualified from the ballot in New York after a recent lawsuit, making his goal of all 50 states nearly impossible. The third factor was perhaps the most obvious: His core proposal had become redundant after Biden withdrew.

All along, Kennedy’s pitch had been based on the fact that a significant portion of voters didn’t want a Biden-Trump rematch. But after Harris took Biden’s place as the nominee, she began winning back some of the disaffected Democrats, independents, and undecideds who had “parked” their support in the Kennedy column. Kennedy’s polling average had fallen to about 5 percent, down from a high of about 10 percent in 2024. Kennedy said his team’s polls showed him pulling more votes from Trump than from Harris in swing states — something outside pollsters had confirmed to me earlier this month.

My conversations with Kennedy confidants, staffers and supporters before and after the event painted a vague picture of what lies ahead for his movement. Jeffrey Rose, Kennedy’s friend of 30 years, was teary-eyed as we spoke. “The DNC invited this,” Rose said. “As a Democrat, it’s not easy for me.” I asked him if he planned to follow Kennedy’s directive and vote for Trump. “What choice do I have?” he replied. Rose was among several Kennedy allies scheduled to attend a nearby Trump rally, where Kennedy would be a special guest. Daniel Adams, who had helped raise money for Kennedy’s super PAC, American Values, told me he expected “most” RFK Jr. supporters to turn to Trump, but acknowledged that Trump’s vaccine policies had been a source of discontent. Casey Westerman, a 38-year-old supporter wearing a blue Kennedy cap, told me she voted for Trump in 2020 and 2016 and was drawn to Kennedy this cycle because of his messages about “corporate capture” of the CDC and FDA. “I trust Kennedy,” Westerman said. “Whoever he chooses to support, I will support.”

Others were less committed. Dicky Barrett, the former lead singer of the 1990s ska band Mighty Mighty Bosstones, walked around the room with a resigned look. “In the world as it is, nothing surprises me anymore,” Barrett told me. “What I ultimately wanted, and still want, is for Bobby to be the 47th president of the United States. Everything that entails, I haven’t really processed yet.” Barrett said he didn’t want Kennedy to endorse Trump. “I have a great deal of admiration, a great deal of respect, a great deal of love for Bobby Kennedy. He was there for me when I needed him, which I don’t have for any of the other candidates in this race. Not even remotely.”

Drea de Matteo, who won an Emmy for her role as Adriana in The Sopranoswas among those scheduled to join Kennedy and his wife, Cheryl Hines, on a “starry sunset cruise” in Southern California next week. She was in Phoenix today to show her support. De Matteo told me she is a lifelong liberal but described herself as “anti-government.” She said she had never voted before 2020, when she voted for Biden, which was a “huge” mistake. “I don’t know what I’m going to do yet,” she said of her plans for 2024. “I’m going to this rally today and I’m going to make up my mind.” (It would be her first Trump rally.) “I think most Americans want an independent candidate now because nobody believes in either party,” she added. Kennedy, she said, was “completely, for lack of a better word, dick blocked by the DNC.” She told me she was at least willing to listen to Trump.

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Kennedy’s campaign was built on contradictions. Despite having one of the most recognizable names in politics, he presented himself as a benevolent outsider, a unifier, and often leaned on something resembling earthy mysticism. I interviewed him extensively this year and last. At one moment he was admirably candid, and at the next he was obfuscating or lying (particularly about his vaccine record). He drew false equivalencies and spread disinformation. On the stump, Kennedy was always talking about the divisions that seemed to be tearing American society apart. It doesn’t have to be this wayhe said. Now, sticking to his contradictory theme, he has thrown himself into battle with the most divisive figure in recent history.

At tonight’s Trump rally, Kennedy walked out to the Foo Fighters stadium rock anthem “My Hero” and shook Trump’s hand. The crowd roared. Not long ago, Kennedy had called Trump “a terrible human being.” Tonight, he bent his knee and asked, “Don’t you want a president who’s going to protect America’s freedoms and protect us from totalitarianism?”

Like the man he just endorsed, Kennedy has an inflated ego and a shaky grasp of reality, and is prone to bizarre expressions. “The naysayers told us we were climbing a glass version of Mount Impossible,” Kennedy said today at the Renaissance Hotel. Shortly afterward, he suggested he could still become president in a contingent election if no candidate could get the required 270 electoral votes. “This is a spiritual journey for me,” Kennedy said. He may not believe it’s over, but the end is in sight. Was it worth the trek?