Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the independent candidate, withdrew his name from the presidential ballot in the state of Arizona just hours before rumors swirled that he would endorse former President Donald Trump.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes took to X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote: “RFK Jr.’s campaign filed official paperwork with our office today withdrawing him from AZ’s 2024 election.”
In the post, Fontes mentioned that the official filing would be available on the Arizona government website on Friday.
Below is a transcript via Grabien:
Griff: Kennedy waged a strong campaign, 10% at one point and nearly made the debate stage. None stronger than this news late yesterday. Take a look. Arizona secretary of state tweeting paperwork of r.f.k. jr. Campaign withdrawing from the ballot there. He will address the nation later today from Arizona. It is where Trump will be. Rumors run wild Kennedy is dropping out and could join Trump to welcome the prospect.
(Plays clip of Donald Trump): “We have a great relationship over the years. I respect him. He respects me. I have no idea if he’s going to endorse me. He has a news conference, we are in the same state. It is possible we’ll meet tomorrow and discuss it. He was treated very unfairly by Democrats, he would have beaten Joe Biden in a democratic primary, no doubt. They made it impossible for him, they made it you have to get 60% of the vote to get in.”
Griff: The two have been talking in private conversation, he might find a role in a future Trump Administration. Trump campaign teases a possible appear appearance and say President Trump will be joined by a special guest as he delivers remarks about island, inflation, of lifing. Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan said Friday will be one of the biggest events in American election history. See what we get.
WATCH:
The withdrawal occurred on the last day of the Democratic National Convention, when Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, gave the keynote address.
There were also rumors that Kennedy might withdraw from the 2024 presidential contest and support Trump, the Republican nominee.
Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy’s running mate, told Fox News this week that they were considering dropping out and endorsing Trump.
Shanahan sounded off on X by arguing that Democrats are “terrified” that their campaign may endorse Trump.
Earlier in the week, Shanahan joined “Fox News @ Night with Trace Gallagher” and said any decision to drop and endorse Trump would ultimately come from Kennedy.
“You know, it’s Bobby’s decision. I came into this supporting him wholeheartedly to win this election. And I have to say, there’s only one party that has obstructed fair, a fair election for us. And unfortunately, it was the Democratic Party. They’ve done everything they can, including creating PACs to prevent us from being able to have ballot access.”
This comes as Trump is leading Vice President Kamala Harris by three percentage points in a recent national head-to-head survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports.
“Trump came out ahead 49% to 46%. That amounts to a slight gain for Harris, who was lagging behind Trump 45% to 49% in Rasmussen’s poll last week. When third-party hopefuls were added to the mix, Trump came out on top again with 47% to Harris’ 45%, followed by independent contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 4%, and all others at 1% or less, per Rasmussen,” the New York Post reported.
“Rasmussen’s findings are an outlier among recent national polling. The conservative-leaning firm has often been at odds with other top pollsters. In 2016, it was among the closest firms to the final result. Harris is averaging a two-point lead over Trump in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of a national five-way race. In a two-way race, her lead slips to 1.5 percentage points,” the Post added.
The race for battleground state polling has also become much more competitive, with several firms obtaining varying results in the major races.
Harris is still behind Trump, though.
