HOURS after presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he would suspend his campaign, the independent candidate made a surprise appearance at Donald Trump’s rally in a show of support.
Kennedy Jr. was welcomed to the stage after he publicly endorsed the Republican presidential candidate earlier in the day.
This rally, hosted by the right-wing organization Turning Point USA, marked Trump’s first appearance on stage since the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.
“I don’t think I’ve ever introduced anyone who’s gotten applause like he just did,” Trump said of Kennedy Jr.’s entrance.
Trump called Kennedy Jr. his friend and said he ran “an extraordinary campaign” for the last 16 months.
“I can only tell you I’ve known him a long time, we’ve been a little on the opposite side of the equation, but I will say this – he is a brilliant, phenomenal person.”
“I’m proud of Bobby if you want to know the truth,” Trump said after acknowledging Kennedy Jr.’s late uncle and father.
Trump also announced on stage alongside Kennedy Jr. that he would establish a new independent presidential commission on assassination attempts – which would be responsible for getting to the bottom of what happened to his uncle, President John F. Kennedy.
The Republican nominee also pledged that he would create a panel to look into the causes of childhood health issues including auto-immune disorders, autism, obesity, infertility, and more.
Trump said that “top experts would work with Bobby” on this panel.
The former president said that he wanted to “salute” Kennedy Jr.’s “decades of work as an advocate for the health of our families and children.”
“Nobody has done more,” Trump said of Kennedy Jr.’s philanthropy work and activism.
“Millions and millions of Americans have concerns about toxins in our environment and pesticides in our food,” Trump said in his announcement of the health panel.
Kennedy Jr. eventually took the mic and addressed the crowd.
During his time on stage, Kennedy Jr. took aim at the CDC, the FDA, the USDA, big food processing companies, and chemical companies.
“Our children are the unhealthiest, sickest children in the world,” Kennedy Jr. claimed.
“Don’t you want healthy children?” He asked the crowd.
“Don’t you want the regulatory agencies to be free of corporate corruption?”
“Don’t you want a safe environment for your children?”
“Don’t you want to know the food that you’re feeding them is not filled with chemicals that will give them cancer and chronic diseases?”
“Don’t you want a president that will make America healthy again?”
“Well, that is what President Trump told me he wanted,” Kennedy Jr. said.
After Kennedy Jr. finished speaking to the crowd, Trump told the crowd that he believed the independent’s endorsement would “have a huge influence on the campaign.”
“Actually much bigger than you’d see in the polls. Bobby and I will fight together,” Trump told the crowd.
After launching his presidential campaign in April 2023, Kennedy Jr. later abandoned the Democratic primary in October of that year and chose to run as an independent instead.
But on Friday, Kennedy Jr., who was polling at an average of five percent, according to Real Clear Polling, announced in front of a rally of supporters in Phoenix that he was suspending his campaign, but would keep his name on the ballot in some states.
“I want everyone to know that I am not terminating my campaign, I am simply suspending it,” Kennedy Jr. said at the rally.
“My name will remain on the ballot in most states.”
However, in about 10 battleground states where Kennedy Jr. says he believes his “presence would be a spoiler,” the independent vowed to remove his name from those ballots and urged people living there not to vote for him.
“In a series of long and intense discussions, I was surprised to discover that we were aligned on many key issues,” Kennedy Jr. said about Trump as he endorsed him.
“In those meetings, [Trump] suggested we join forces as a unity party. We talked about Abraham Lincoln’s team of rivals.”
“That arrangement would allow us to disagree publicly and privately, and fiercely if need be on issues over which we differ.”
Kennedy Jr. said joining forces with Trump was a “difficult sacrifice” but may be worth it if the former president is elected and “honors” his word.
After news of Kennedy Jr.’s plans to suspend his campaign surfaced this week, reports came to light that the independent was willing to trade his endorsement for a cabinet position on either ticket.
A Kennedy campaign official told CNN that the candidate reached out to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign in hopes of arranging a meeting where the two could discuss a possible role in her administration if he were to endorse her.
However, Harris and her campaign did not respond to Kennedy Jr.’s offer.
The independent candidate reportedly even tried going through President Joe Biden’s former White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, but his efforts got him nowhere.
Trump, however, did not rule out the possibility of offering Kennedy Jr. a role in a future administration and had a series of conversations with him regarding their views and policy proposals – announcing on Friday that Kennedy would be part of his administration’s new health panel.
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