Robert F. Kennedy Jr has dropped out of the US presidential race and at the same time officially endorsed former President Donald Trump’s bid for the presidency.
Announcing his decision on 23 August, Kennedy, who is often known as RFK, described how his involvement in the presidential race has been “a spiritual journey for me” and that the difficult decision to pull out of the race and to endorse Trump had involved "deep prayer”.
In addition to backing Trump, Kennedy gave a scathing assessment of the Democratic Party and its presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Kennedy urged his followers to still vote for him in the states where he remains on the ballot though in the crucial swing states he is telling people to support Donald Trump against Kamala Harris, describing what he sees as a “war on our children”.
“I reached my decision through deep prayer, hard-nosed logic, and I asked myself what choices must<em> I make</em> to maximise my chances to save America’s children and restore national health,” Kennedy said in his address confirming the end of his campaign. <br><br>"I felt that if I refused this opportunity I would not be able to look myself in the mirror knowing that I could have saved the lives of countless children and reverse this country's chronic disease epidemic.<br><br>"I can't imagine that a President Harris would allow me or anyone to solve these dire problems."<br><br>The 70-year-old politician describes how he "may have a decade [left] to be effective", before adding: "After eight years of President Harris, any opportunity for me to fix the problem will be out of my reach for ever."<br><br>He goes on to say: "President Donald Trump has told me that he wants this to be his legacy. I'm choosing to believe that this time he will follow through.<br><br>"My joining the Trump campaign will be a difficult sacrifice for my wife and children but worthwhile if there is even a small chance of saving these kids."
As the US politics commentator and writer Freddy Gray <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/has-rfk-just-started-the-neverharris-movement/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">notes</mark></a> in the <em>Spectator</em>: “It’s quite something for a member of the Kennedy family, the most famous Democratic clan in history, to announce his support for any Republican, let alone Donald J. Trump. But RFK appears to have chosen his anti-establishment politics over his impeccably establishment social and familial ties.”
Like his father Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, RFK is a committed Catholic, who has spoken about the patron saint of his middle name, Saint Francis of Assisi, and about how the saint and Catholicism have influenced his environmentalism.<br><br>"My dad and uncle made such an enduring mark on the character of our nation," Kennedy says in his address. "Not so much because of any particular policies that they promoted, but because they were able to inspire profound love for our country, and to fortify our sense of ourselves as a united community held together by ideals.<br><br>"They were able to put their love into the intentions and hearts of ordinary Americans and to unify a national populist movement of Americans, blacks and whites, hispanics, urban and rural Americans; they inspired affection and love and high hopes and a culture of kindness that continue to radiate among Americans from their memory.
"That's the spirit on which I ran my campaign and that I intend to bring into the campaign of President Trump."
His endorsement of Trump now means that the controversial former president has another prominent Catholic US politician on his team, alongside his Catholic convert running mate and vice-presidential nominee JD Vance. <br><br>"Ultimately, the only thing that will save our country and our children is if we choose to love our kids more than we hate each other," Kennedy says.
<strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/tim-walz-obsession-with-the-so-called-weirdness-aka-catholicism-of-jd-vance/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Tim Walz’s obsession with the so-called ‘weirdness’ (aka Catholicism) of JD Vance</mark></a></strong>
<em>Photo: Former Republican presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, 23 August 2024. Kennedy announced on 23 August that he was suspending his presidential campaign and supporting former President Trump. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images.)</em>
Robert F. Kennedy Jr has dropped out of the US presidential race and at the same time officially endorsed former President Donald Trump’s bid for the presidency.
Announcing his decision on 23 August, Kennedy, who is often known as RFK, described how his involvement in the presidential race has been “a spiritual journey for me” and that the difficult decision to pull out of the race and to endorse Trump had involved "deep prayer”.
In addition to backing Trump, Kennedy gave a scathing assessment of the Democratic Party and its presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Kennedy urged his followers to still vote for him in the states where he remains on the ballot though in the crucial swing states he is telling people to support Donald Trump against Kamala Harris, describing what he sees as a “war on our children”.
“I reached my decision through deep prayer, hard-nosed logic, and I asked myself what choices must<em> I make</em> to maximise my chances to save America’s children and restore national health,” Kennedy said in his address confirming the end of his campaign. <br><br>"I felt that if I refused this opportunity I would not be able to look myself in the mirror knowing that I could have saved the lives of countless children and reverse this country's chronic disease epidemic.<br><br>"I can't imagine that a President Harris would allow me or anyone to solve these dire problems."<br><br>The 70-year-old politician describes how he "may have a decade [left] to be effective", before adding: "After eight years of President Harris, any opportunity for me to fix the problem will be out of my reach for ever."<br><br>He goes on to say: "President Donald Trump has told me that he wants this to be his legacy. I'm choosing to believe that this time he will follow through.<br><br>"My joining the Trump campaign will be a difficult sacrifice for my wife and children but worthwhile if there is even a small chance of saving these kids."
As the US politics commentator and writer Freddy Gray <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/has-rfk-just-started-the-neverharris-movement/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">notes</mark></a> in the <em>Spectator</em>: “It’s quite something for a member of the Kennedy family, the most famous Democratic clan in history, to announce his support for any Republican, let alone Donald J. Trump. But RFK appears to have chosen his anti-establishment politics over his impeccably establishment social and familial ties.”
Like his father Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, RFK is a committed Catholic, who has spoken about the patron saint of his middle name, Saint Francis of Assisi, and about how the saint and Catholicism have influenced his environmentalism.<br><br>"My dad and uncle made such an enduring mark on the character of our nation," Kennedy says in his address. "Not so much because of any particular policies that they promoted, but because they were able to inspire profound love for our country, and to fortify our sense of ourselves as a united community held together by ideals.<br><br>"They were able to put their love into the intentions and hearts of ordinary Americans and to unify a national populist movement of Americans, blacks and whites, hispanics, urban and rural Americans; they inspired affection and love and high hopes and a culture of kindness that continue to radiate among Americans from their memory.
"That's the spirit on which I ran my campaign and that I intend to bring into the campaign of President Trump."
His endorsement of Trump now means that the controversial former president has another prominent Catholic US politician on his team, alongside his Catholic convert running mate and vice-presidential nominee JD Vance. <br><br>"Ultimately, the only thing that will save our country and our children is if we choose to love our kids more than we hate each other," Kennedy says.
<strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/tim-walz-obsession-with-the-so-called-weirdness-aka-catholicism-of-jd-vance/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Tim Walz’s obsession with the so-called ‘weirdness’ (aka Catholicism) of JD Vance</mark></a></strong>
<em>Photo: Former Republican presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, 23 August 2024. Kennedy announced on 23 August that he was suspending his presidential campaign and supporting former President Trump. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images.)</em>
