RFK Jr. in talks about a possible endorsement of Trump

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is in talks with the Trump campaign about a possible endorsement of the former president, according to four people familiar with the conversations granted anonymity to discuss the ongoing conversations.

The discussions between the two sides have been going on for months and accelerated before the Republican National Convention in July, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions. Donald Trump Jr., conservative media personality Tucker Carlson and Trump donor Omeed Malik have been key players in facilitating the conversations, the person said.

Donald Trump Jr. has been particularly concerned about the prospect that Kennedy could siphon off votes that would otherwise go to the former president, and has viewed an Kennedy endorsement as valuable.

“I have no comment,” Kennedy said in an interview.

Kennedy has so far been the strongest third-party candidate in the race, and if he drops out it could dramatically reshape the electoral landscape in a tight election.

Kennedy’s running mate, tech attorney and entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan, said on a podcast interview on Tuesday that there were two paths that the campaign was considering: staying in the race with the goal of receiving 5 percent of the vote to qualify for federal matching funds for the next election or joining forces with GOP nominee Donald Trump.

In an email sent to campaign staff on Wednesday, campaign manager Amaryllis Fox Kennedy told staff to "hold tight" as the candidate considered his next move. The email did not mention Shanahan by name but asked the campaign team to keep “your patience, your prayer, and your faith” with Kennedy.

“There are several potential paths forward — not only two,” Fox Kennedy said. “So please, hold tight until you hear directly from him.”

Supporters will have that opportunity on Friday in Phoenix, where Kennedy announced later Wednesday that he will address “the present historical moment and his path forward.”

Kennedy’s campaign has been struggling to gain traction for months as his poll numbers have dipped, fundraising dollars have dried up and obstacles to campaigning have kept him off the trail for months. But some Kennedy supporters see the Trump endorsement as a way to keep the legacy of the campaign alive.

Kennedy supporters on the campaign and super PAC are divided about paths forward. Some supporters, including the core volunteer base, are open to working with Trump. But others are following the lead of political consultant Larry Sharpe, who is working with the PAC, to force a contingent election, a situation in which no presidential candidate gets 270 electoral college votes.

“Kennedy supporters, I mean, they're bright people. You know, they look at the polls, and I think they realize,” said Jeff Hutt, Kennedy campaign’s former national field director. “I’ve talked to campaign staff, and nearly everybody would love to see Bobby do something like [Health and Human Services] secretary in the Trump [administration] or something. And that a lot of those folks in the campaign would be willing to move over to the Trump campaign and work for it given the chance to help them.”

Hutt, who worked for the campaign for more than a year and keeps in contact with field staff and volunteers, said the core of Kennedy’s support comes from “Covid warriors,” people who opposed government-mandated vaccines and closures as the result of the pandemic. Many of those backers are new to politics, but also believe there’s no room for them in the Democratic Party. Kennedy failing to qualify for the debate stage in late June was a blow to morale, he said.

“I think if [Trump] brings in Bobby that that could be an amazing combination,” said Mark Gorton, co-founder and donor to a super PAC that is backing Kennedy, in an interview. “You mainstream the entire Bobby movement into the Republican Party and really supercharge the part of it that was about cleaning up the corrupt system.”

Gorton, who has donated $1 million to the super PAC supporting RFK, American Values 2024, is dismissive of Sharpe’s ideas to force a contingent election. But his co-founder, Tony Lyons, has been talking about a contingent election as a viable path for Kennedy to reach the White House since last December. And Fox Kennedy brought up the idea in a recent interview with the New Yorker .

Sharpe has said Kennedy could have a path forward by focusing on five states: Nevada, Arizona, New Hampshire, Utah and Alaska. He most recently shared his plan in a YouTube interview with Kim Iversen, a conservative-leaning political commentator, which Shanahan also shared on X.

The strategy will work best, Sharpe has said, if the Kennedy campaign focuses on states that Democrats and Republicans typically don’t spend money in.

“If he wins just one state,” Sharpe, who is a Libertarian, said in an interview, “if he wins just Utah, then that, by default, means that you have a purple splotch on that map, and that tells the entire country third parties can win. That's the symbol we have for the next four years.”

Daniel Lippman contributed to this report.