RFK Jr. suspends presidential campaign, endorses Trump

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Friday dropped his White House bid and announced support for former President Donald Trump, issuing broadsides against the Democratic Party's handling of the primary election and media censorship.

"…I've made the heart-wrenching decision to suspend my campaign and to support President Trump. This decision is agonizing for me because of the difficulties it causes me, and my children and my friends," said Kennedy.

Kennedy charged in an event in Phoenix, Arizona that the Democratic Party "waged continual legal warfare against both President Trump and myself," and "ran a sham primary."

"In an honest system, I believe I would have won the election," he argued. "I no longer believe that I have a realistic past of electoral victory in the face of this relentless, systematic censorship and media control."

Kennedy's campaign is asking swing states to remove his name from the ballot because he does not want to be a "spoiler," he said. He will remain on the ballot in states that he considers "red" or "blue," he said. "If you live in a blue state, you can vote for me without harming or helping President Trump or or Vice President Harris," Kennedy said. "In red states, the same will apply."

The former Democrat spoke a couple of hours before Trump was scheduled to hold a campaign event in nearby Glendale, Arizona. The Trump campaign on Thursday advertised that the former president would be joined by a "special guest," which further sparked speculation of a Kennedy endorsement of the Republican 2024 presidential nominee.

The announcement ends the presidential run by the longtime environmental activist and high-profile vaccine skeptic, who is the scion of the nation's most storied political dynasty.