Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Friday he is suspending his long-shot campaign for president and instead supporting former President Donald Trump.
He did so at an event in Phoenix, Arizona, during which he encouraged voters in red or blue states to vote for him but said he would remove himself from the ballot in battleground states where he could act as a “spoiler.”
“I want everyone to know that I am not terminating my campaign,” he said. “I am simply suspending it and not ending it.”
Soon after, Kennedy joined Trump on stage during the former president’s Glendale, Arizona, rally.
Trump said he would appoint and create an independent commission to investigate assassination attempts and release all remaining documents about the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
He went on to explain what drove him to enter the race, to leave the Democratic Party and “now to throw my support to President Trump.”
Just before he took the stage, his campaign filed a court document in Pennsylvania which said Kennedy would endorse Trump.
Trump, who was in Nevada campaigning as Kennedy spoke, quickly celebrated his support. Trump will be in Arizona later Friday to hold a rally in Glendale, where he teased he would be joined by a “special guest.”
“We just had a very nice endorsement from RFK Jr., Bobby,” Trump said in Las Vegas. “That’s big. He’s a great guy, respected by everybody.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee responded to Kennedy’s announcement with a statement of “good riddance.”
“The more voters learned about RFK Jr. the less they liked him,” said DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill. “Donald Trump isn’t earning an endorsement that’s going to help build support, he’s inheriting the baggage of a failed fringe candidate.”