On April 19th, 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK) announced his election bid. He ran as an independent candidate but holds several polarizing views on different issues. His views on vaccinating children lean heavily to the right while his views on abortion and climate change are much more liberal.
On August 23, 2024, RFK announced his endorsement of Donald Trump. This came as a surprise to many, as RFK spent the majority of his political career as a Democrat. In addition, RFK was doing fairly well in the polls for an independent with up to 10% of the vote (far above the average amount for an independent candidate). Hours after publicly endorsing Trump, he spoke at a rally in Arizona, where he was met with a roar of approval from Trump supporters. RFK cited free speech, the war in Ukraine, and “a war on our children” as reasons for leaving the Democratic Party and ultimately endorsing Trump. At the rally, he stated, “These are the principal causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to throw my support to President Trump.”
While the impact of RFK’s endorsement was not large within the polls, RFK’s absence from the race will likely have a much larger influence. According to AP News, 52% of RFK’s supporters favored Trump and 37% Kamala. Trump will likely gain 1-2 points over Kamala without RFK in the race. RFK outlined his reasoning for ending his presidential run, stating, “Many months ago I promised the American people I would withdraw from the race if I became a spoiler. … In my heart, I no longer believe I have a realistic path to electoral victory.” Although the gravity of RFK dropping out to endorse Trump may seem insignificant, small changes in voting numbers nevertheless could have a notable impact on which candidate wins.
