RFK JR: Will Robert F. Kennedy's anticipated withdrawal from the 2024 election help Trump defeat Harris?

 On Friday, Democratic turned independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be in the political spotlight, likely to announce his withdrawal from the race for president. The candidate, according to Kennedy's campaign, "will address the nation live on Friday about the present historical moment and his path forward." 

Kennedy moved to remove his name from the state ballot the night before his event in Arizona, seemingly another indication that he intended to withdraw from the race. The most important question, though, is whether Kennedy's expected withdrawal from the 2024 contest will help former President Donald Trump in his upcoming contest against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Veteran Republican strategist and Fox News contributor Karl Rove highlighted the significant role third party candidates played in the last two presidential elections. Rove cited Trump's victory over the Democratic nominee for president in 2016, pointing out that 

Green Party candidate Jill Stein received more votes in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania than Hillary Clinton did in those states. "Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian candidate, received more votes in Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin in 2020 than Donald Trump lost those states by," Rove continued. And it was the difference between winning and losing in every case."

Kennedy, the scion of the most illustrious political family in the country and a longtime environmentalist and vaccine skeptic, began his longshot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in April of last year. But the 70-year-old candidate decided to run as an independent for the

 

White House last October. Although Kennedy had always identified as a Democrat and frequently cited the assassinations of his late father, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, in the 1960s, Kennedy has recently developed ties with far-right figures. For months, the Democratic National Committee and President Biden's campaign constantly attacked Kennedy as a possible spoiler whose followers could give Trump the win in November.

Early on, Trump's campaign attacked Kennedy's independent candidacy by branding him as a radical liberal and endorsing his more progressive viewpoints. As more public and internal polling indicated that Kennedy received as much support from Trump as from Biden, the attacks intensified even more in the spring of 2024. 

Kennedy was no longer just a bother to Trump's advisors and outside allies by May; instead, they saw him as a serious issue that needed to be resolved. In his own words, Trump advised Americans who were on the fence not to cast a "wasted protest vote."

Kennedy's favorable summertime coverage by conservative media, including Fox News, Newsmax, and conservative influencers, also became a source of frustration. For months, there had been discussions within Trump's team about the potential benefits of Kennedy's endorsement. Kennedy had a turbulent past even before he entered the presidential race, 

and over the course of his 16-month campaign, he has managed to accumulate even more scandals. Kennedy first revealed in May that there had once been a parasitic worm that had invaded his brain and died, resulting in "brain fog" and "having trouble with word retrieval and short-term memory," he said. He disregarded claims made in Vanity Fair that he had sexually abused a former nanny later in the campaign, telling a podcast that he had "many skeletons in my closet."

Trump attacked Kennedy's environmental activism and called the former Democrat a part of the “radical left” as his campaign gained traction. However, in the days following the former president's escape from an attempted assassination at a Pennsylvania campaign rally, 

Trump and Kennedy spoke over the phone in July. On the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, the day following the call, Kennedy and Trump had a face-to-face meeting.
During those discussions, the candidates initially talked about Kennedy withdrawing from the contest and supporting the outgoing president in exchange for a position in a future Trump administration. Kennedy declared afterward that he would not withdraw from the race.

Kennedy's campaign inquired with the vice president's campaign earlier this month about setting up a meeting to talk about endorsing her in exchange for a possible position in a Harris administration. That meeting did not come to pass.

Shanahan attacked Democrats on Thursday, implying that they would be held accountable if Kennedy's backers assisted in propelling Trump to victory in November.

Her social media posts on social media stated that her "old Dem buddies" are "terrified of the idea of our movement joining forces with Donald Trump."

"This is a suggestion: cease suing us. Let's have a discussion. Give up manipulating the media and polls. People, just follow this easy formula," Shanahan remarked.