(Al Jazeera Media Network) Third-party presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr has suspended his long-shot bid for the White House, throwing his weight instead behind Republican candidate, former president Donald Trump.
Friday’s announcement was the culmination of weeks of speculation, as Kennedy receded in the polls. Still, he offered a message of defiance, denouncing his campaign’s “naysayers”.
“We proved them wrong,” Kennedy said at a campaign stop in Phoenix, Arizona. “Beneath the radar of mainstream media organs, we inspired a massive independent political movement.”
“In an honest system, I believe I would have won the election,” he later added.
Still, he acknowledged his odds were dim. “I cannot in good conscience ask my staff and volunteers to keep working their long hours or ask my donors to keep giving when I cannot honestly tell them that I have a real path to the White House.”
Kennedy said he was “not terminating” his campaign, only suspending it. But he said he would be removing his name from the ballot in states where he feared drawing votes away from Trump.
“In about 10 battleground states, where my presence would be a spoiler, I’m going to remove my name. And I’ve already started that process and urge voters not to vote for me,” he said.
He explained that he and Trump shared concerns about “free speech, the war in Ukraine, and the war on our children.”
In the lead-up to Kennedy’s remarks, his campaign teased that his Arizona speech would address “the present historical moment and his path forward.”
The speculation of a possible Kennedy-Trump alliance was amplified by the speech’s location. Trump himself was set to arrive in Arizona for a rally in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, just three hours after Kennedy’s remarks.
On Thursday, Kennedy filed paperwork withdrawing his candidacy in Arizona, in preparation for Friday’s speech.
