My goodness, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been stirring up a few hornets’ nests lately. As a presidential candidate, he leads the losers’ ranks, polling around 5 percent in most polls—but that still puts him among the losers.
But as a spoiler? Well, ask Ralph Nader – or Ross Perot. There can be a place in history for a spoiler, even if it’s not in the White House.
Now we see that the scion of the Kennedy family will address the nation in Phoenix on Friday at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, which leads us to ask: What will he say?
“Independent presidential candidate [Kennedy] will speak live to the nation on Friday about the current historical moment and its future path,” said the campaign’s press spokesman Stefanie Spear announced in an X-post.
The address is expected at 2 p.m. ET and takes place in Phoenix, Arizona.
Kennedy’s speech comes amid growing speculation that he will drop out of the presidential race and endorse former President Donald Trump. Earlier this week, his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, confirmed that the campaign was considering such an option.
“We are considering two options. One is to stay in the party and form this novel party. That puts us at risk of Kamala Harris and Waltz becoming president because we are stealing more votes from Trump,” she said. “Or we can step down right now and ally ourselves with Donald Trump and explain to our base why we are making this decision.”
Well, those are some compelling possibilities. But as my friend and colleague Becca Lower recently noted, RFK Jr. has no sympathy for either Biden or Harris.
See also: RFK Jr. attacks Biden, Trump and Harris in press conference after Biden drops out
Becca writes:
When asked about Harris as a possible Democratic candidate, Kennedy said: “I think Kamala Harris is the party of war. She is a warmonger. The Democratic Party has always been the party of peace. Kamala Harris is a warmonger in Ukraine, she is a warmonger on the China issue… I think she will do nothing about the federal deficit.”
He continued: “She is one of the originators of civil rights, she has one of the worst civil rights records of any public official… She is one of the main authors of the school-to-prison pipeline. Despite a Supreme Court ruling, she [sic] 5,000 prisoners… she kept them there and said we needed them for firefighting and other public works projects.”
On Tuesday, another friend and colleague, Jeff Charles, suggested that RFK Jr. was considering dropping out of the race.
See also: RFK Jr. Camp says he’s considering dropping out of the race, but sends mixed messages about what happens next
Jeff writes:
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is considering dropping out of the race and supporting former President Donald Trump, according to his running mate Nicole Shanahan.
During an appearance on the Impact Theory podcast, Shanahan discussed how the Kennedy team is reviewing its options.
So let’s try to put this all together.
This speech on Friday afternoon is likely to be some kind of major announcement. There are only two possibilities: Either RFK Jr. drops out or stays in the race. If he stays in the race, the status quo remains. If he drops out of the race, there are three possibilities:
- He’s not giving up and supporting anyone, he’s just taking his ball and going home. That seems unlikely; you don’t plan an critical speech and then just walk away, and he seems to be taking this election very seriously.
- He’s stepping down and endorsing Kamala Harris. That also seems unlikely, given that he has been disparaging of the Democratic candidate and her former boss and no doubt harbors a grudge against national Democrats because Bernie Sanders knocked him out of the primaries.
- He will resign and support Donald Trump. That seems more likely. He has apparently had talks with people from Team Trump and the possibility of a Cabinet post for Kennedy should be on the table.
That’s an compelling set of options, and if I were a betting man (and I am occasionally, but I’m just gambling with my life), I’d bet on the latter. This move will be met with skepticism on both sides, especially among Republicans, since RFK Jr. was a lifelong Democrat, like most of his family members. But his likely turning his back on Trump would change the equation more than if he joined the Harris camp, since any voters who could be persuaded by the latter are already leaning in that direction.
But if RFK Jr. could, for example, bring three-quarters of the five percent he commands into the Trump camp by supporting and playing a prominent role in a second Trump administration – well, that could be a game-changer.
Stay tuned for Friday.
