Kennedy suspends campaign, endorses Trump

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., son of an assassinated Senator and nephew of an assassinated President, withdrew his independent Presidential candidacy. Furthermore, as his running mate hinted, he gave an unqualified endorsement to President Donald J. Trump for reelection. In his address to the nation, he made clear that his motive was not revenge on the Democrats. Though that Party has slighted him, he gave a more important ground for his action. Simply put, he believes both Party establishments are aligned with companies that have made Americans the sickest population in the world. Vice-President Kamala Harris will not address this; Donald Trump will.

Kennedy makes moves to stop his campaign

The first hint of the withdrawal came yesterday, when he withdrew his name from the ballot in Arizona. Jack Posibiec (Human Events) shared a photo of the first page of his withdrawal statement.

X influencer Miriam Judith published further details in The Gateway Pundit, citing a piece in The New York Times. According to them, he had just qualified for the Arizona ballot one week ago. His sudden withdrawal came one day before his address to the nation this afternoon. But the Times also suggested that his petition might have been subject to a challenge. Apparently a super PAC collected them, and the law allegedly requires a campaign to gather signatures by themselves.

Ballot access challenges are one of many complaints running mate Nicole Shanahan made to Tom Bilyeu at Impact Theory.

Shanahan also alleged a long-standing campaign of sabotage by the Democrats.

They have banned us, shadow-banned us, kept off stages, used lawfare against us, sued us in every possible state, they even planted insiders into our campaign.

Yesterday, after giving the above interview, Shanahan revealed receiving “frantic calls, texts and emails” begging her and Kennedy not to endorse Donald J. Trump. She shared this on X, together with her reply:

When I point out what the Democratic Party and their super PACs have done to sabotage our campaign, their response is always, “but Trump is worse.” Here’s an idea: stop suing us. Let us debate. Quit rigging the media and the polls. It’s a simple formula, people—get with it.

Most X users, replying to the above, encouraged her to join forces with Trump. But one user dropped a very sarcastic – and unladylike – reply:

That started a lengthy discussion, with Shanahan inquiring after this person’s mental health, and most of the others saying she was a typical Democrat, and one should expect no better. CNAV urges the Mark Twain curtain-of-charity treatment for the rest of that dialogue.

As his speech approached

Kennedy was filing his withdrawal papers in Arizona while Shanahan was sharing the above. Shanahan also told Bilyeu that she and Kennedy were afraid of helping Kamala Harris become President.

Contrary to The New York Times’ insinuation, he would not withdraw his candidacy over one ballot challenge. But perhaps while he fears he would take more votes from Trump than from Harris, the Democrats fear the opposite.

Kennedy originally scheduled his address for 11:00 a.m. Pacific (and Arizona) Time (2:00 p.m. Eastern Time). But when the time came, he did not appear. Eventually word came that he had delayed his broadcast for forty-five minutes.

In the meantime, these five posts came in, saying Kennedy had filed papers in his ballot-access case in Pennsyhlvania. (The court had forbidden him to testify on his own behalf, because he showed up late.) That filing allegedly said he was withdrawing his contest of his exclusion from the Pennsylvania ballot. Instead, he planned to endorse Donald Trump. One of these came from an Associated Press reporter, which only enhances the credibility of the report.

Then at 11:45 a.m. Arizona time, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. began his address to the nation.

The speech

He spoke of what the Democratic Party stood for during his growing-up years, things he supported. Then he condemned the Party as a “Party of censorship” (and accused it of covering for Biden’s cognitive decline). He spoke of the challenges he faced – and met – in pursuing nomination by petition in all fifty States.

After praising all his volunteers who gathered signatures for him, he lamented that the Democratic Party, and the media, made electoral victory impossible for him. He cited repeated ballot-access challenges – and also talked about the various cases against Trump. Furthermore he cited the refusal of any media organs to let him take part in any debates. Regarding Vice-President Kamala Harris, he accused the media of engineering a surge in popularity for her. Then he mentioned that President Trump seemed to bear mention in every other sentence spoken at the Democratic National Convention. In contrast, President Joe Biden bore mention exactly twice during the Republican National Convention.

Moreover, Kennedy accused the Democrats, and the media, of hypocrisy, in this regard: they made light of Vladimir Putin’s reelection as head-of-state in Russia, and accuse him of the very same things they did. Though Kennedy did not mention the name of Saul Alinsky, he might as well have. He did repeatedly mention the censorship of legacy and social media, on government orders.

Kennedy has his own censorship case

In this regard he mentioned that Judge Terry A. Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana had “upheld [his] injunction” against the Biden administration. To be specific, Judge Doughty ruled, on August 20, that Kennedy and his Children’s Health Defense organization have standing, even by the stringent criteria the Supreme Court used to deny standing to the plaintiffs in a related case. Kennedy v. Biden, 1:23-cv-00381 – memorandum ruling.

Those weren’t all the issues Kennedy mentioned. He mentioned the Russia-Ukraine War, which he does not consider just. Indeed he accused Biden of drumming up support for the war under false pretenses.

Finally he mentioned that only one other candidate – Donald J. Trump – agreed with him on the injustice of that war. Kennedy confirmed that he and Trump did converse shortly after the attempted assassination of the former President. He credited Trump with proposing that the two men form a “team of rivals,” as Abraham Lincoln did. Then he clarified another story that had caused consternation. Yes, he did try to have the same conversation with Vice-President Harris, after Biden quit the race. And she refused.

The singular issue of chronic disease in America

Turning to the “chronic disease epidemic,” the now-former candidate pointed out that the United States had sixteen percent of excess deaths from coronavirus, and four percent of the total population. Why? Because Americans are the sickest population in the world, per capita! After describing several specific statistics, he lamented that none of these facts seem to be newsworthy. He also had blame to lay about these chronic diseases: processed foods, destruction of small farms, and nutritive soil depletion. In that regard he blamed not only “Big Pharma” and “Big Ag,” but also environmental organizations that ignored the issue.

For all the reasons he set forth above, he has endorsed Donald J. Trump as President. The only apparent condition he has set, is that he play a role, in the second Trump administration, to address the “chronic disease epidemic” and its causes. He cannot work with Kamala Harris, but can with Trump. Simple as.

Apparently he will remain on the ballot in all but ten “swing States.” He didn’t name them, but obviously Arizona and Pennsylvania are two of them. By staying on the ballot anywhere, he remains eligible for Secret Service protection. But by withdrawing the the “swing” States, he eliminates any possibility of “spoiling” the election for Trump.

This post is typical of the electric reaction to this speech.

The Harris campaign saw fit to indulge in middle-school-level puerility.

Analysis

National Unity Governments are not a feature of American politics. Only once in American history has such a government ever formed. Abraham Lincoln selected Brevet Brigadier General Andrew Johnson, Commandant of Occupied Northern Tennessee, as his running mate in 1864. How a partnership between the two might have played out, America will never know. John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln, and Congress almost removed Johnson from office. But Johnson did score this foreign-policy victory: ordering Napoleon III to withdraw his troops from Mexico, per the Monroe Doctrine.

This Trump-Kennedy alliance isn’t quite on that level. But from everything Kennedy said, he might become Commissioner of Food and Drugs. That would let him address the “chronic disease epidemic” directly, by withholding processed-food-related approvals. Or he might become Undersecretary of Agriculture in Charge of Soil Replenishment and Small Farm Support, or some such title. Trump might also appoint him the Chronic Disease Czar. If so, he should ask Congress to legislate the post and delineate its authority. Trump could then nominate him and ask the Senate to confirm it.

Kennedy clearly wants to get five percent in most States, so that someone else could run again on his platform. Current reports suggest he has five percent – or more – nationwide. Withdrawing from known battleground States will definitely help Trump secure victory in them. But Trump’s pathway to victory might go through more than those ten. So his supporters must not assume an easy victory, or that they can afford to lose any States.