The assassination attempt on Donald Trump sparked a weeks-long courtship that led Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to end his presidential campaign to join forces with the former president.
Kennedy Jr. sensationally dropped out of the race to support the Republican candidate.which led to a fierce family feud and endless speculation about how the former Democrat formed an unusual alliance with the MAGA leader.
The idea for a partnership became a reality in the wake of the assassination attempt on Trump on July 13. Kennedy received a phone call from his health care adviser, Calley Means, according to a recent, extensive report by The Washington Post. The New York Times.
The offer was tempting: Trump, like Kennedy’s father and uncle, had been shot at a public event. Would Kennedy consider speaking to Trump and possibly becoming his vice president?
Kennedy initially said no, saying he did not want the job, but eventually decided to talk to Trump about an alliance.
The assassination attempt on Donald Trump sparked a weeks-long courtship that led Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to end his presidential campaign to join forces with the former president.
In the six weeks between the shooting and the suspension of Kennedy’s campaign (during which Trump chose Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate), the two parties negotiated endlessly behind the scenes.
Key players included infamous talk show host Tucker Carlson and campaign co-manager Susie Wiles.
Means used Carlson to facilitate the deal with Trump’s party, which excited the Trump team because they had discovered that Kennedy was a bigger threat in the polls to Trump than Joe Biden or Kamala Harris.
Trump had already considered offering Kennedy the post of vice president in April of this year.
Carlson, Kennedy and Trump participated in a group text message that gave them a chance to talk to each other, which they did while the former president was hospitalized in Pennsylvania.
While Team Kennedy had also been considering the partnership, one member of RFK Jr.’s inner circle was not enthused: his wife and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines.
Kennedy has publicly admitted that TMZ that his wife, the actress, is not happy with the support.
But Kennedy’s team saw that their candidate was failing to gain support among Democrats after Joe Biden’s disastrous debate in Georgia in late June that ultimately led him to drop out of the race.
Key players included infamous talk show host Tucker Carlson and campaign co-manager Susie Wiles.
While Team Kennedy had also been considering the partnership, one member of RFK Jr.’s inner circle was not enthused: his wife and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines.
Between that and the fact that Democrats consider RFK Jr. persona non grata, they felt their only chance of having a say in the race was by backing Trump.
Kennedy and Trump met on July 15 at the Republican National Convention, and RFK Jr. positioned himself as a public health guru, or even Secretary of Health and Human Services.
However, the deal was nearly ruined when RFK Jr.’s son posted a video of a phone conversation between Trump and Kennedy on social media.
Trump’s team now viewed Kennedy as a liar and a leaker and things went badly until it became clear that Kamala Harris was in the running and was a threat to Trump regaining the White House.
Kennedy apologized and on August 12 the two met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida with Wiles and Donald Trump Jr.
On August 23, Trump and Kennedy were all smiles on stage at a rally in Arizona as Kennedy endorsed his candidacy.
Kennedy suspended his campaign in 10 of the most competitive states, including the seven key states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
He and fellow Democratic defector Tulsi Gabbard have been named honorary co-chairs of Trump’s transition team.
On August 23, Trump and Kennedy were all smiles on stage at a rally in Arizona as Kennedy endorsed
Since then, Kennedy has been on a mad, and largely unsuccessful, race to get out of the election in key states.
A judge in the battleground state of Michigan has ruled that Kennedy must remain on the presidential ballot despite his attempt to withdraw, in a ruling that could hurt Donald Trump.
Kennedy wants his name off ballots in battleground states where some polls show he would take votes away from Republicans.
Michigan’s Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson wrote that a candidate who accepts a party nomination “will not be permitted to withdraw.”
Kennedy also filed a lawsuit to withdraw from the ballot in North Carolina, a Trump state in 2020 that is shaping up to be a key battleground. Wisconsin rejected an earlier request to withdraw there.
The request to remove RFK Jr.’s name came after 1.7 million ballots had already been printed. The state said it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce new ballots and the board will begin sending out mail-in ballots on Friday.
Meanwhile, his team filed paperwork to put him on the ballot in Mississippi, a state where Trump is almost certain to prevail.
Kennedy has said he does not want to be a spoilsport and wants to get out of the polls in states where he would “hand the election to Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now suing North Carolina to have his name removed from the ballot after the state’s election board denied his request not to be included after 1.7 million ballots had already been printed.
If RFK Jr. ultimately fails to remove his name from the ballot in North Carolina, it could undermine his decision to suspend his candidacy to benefit the Republican candidate.
“Our polls consistently showed that if I were to remain on the ballot in the battleground states, I would likely hand the election to the Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues,” Kennedy told reporters when he announced his withdrawal in Phoenix, Arizona, last month.
The dispute in North Carolina is not the only state where Kennedy is facing problems for removing his name from the ballot so soon before Election Day in November.
Wisconsin and Michigan also deny the permit.
“Any person who files nomination papers and is eligible to appear on the ballot may not decline the nomination. The name of that person shall appear on the ballot except in the event of the death of the person,” Wisconsin election law states, as cited by the board that denied her request not to appear on the ballot.
However, Kennedy has managed to successfully withdraw from elections in other battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Nevada and Arizona.