RFK Jr. says Trump endorsement not out of revenge

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Sunday his endorsement of Donald Trump is not out of revenge on Democrats and he plans to continue campaigning for the former president.

“I’m going to be campaigning actively,” Kennedy said in an interview with Shannon Bream on "Fox News Sunday." “I think President Trump will make a series of announcements with other Democrats who are joining his campaign and I want to make America healthy again and so does President Trump.”

Kennedy, who has argued that Democrats effectively blocked him from seeking the nomination this year, also said he only plans to withdraw his name from the ballot in 10 swing states and will stay on about 30 state ballots where his candidacy is not likely to affect the outcome.

Kennedy said, “In the states where I would have been a spoiler, I'm going to get out. It's about 10 states.”

While Kennedy said he still disagrees with Trump on some issues, he had talked to Trump after his assassination attempt and then had two extensive meetings with him after that.

“[Trump] invited me to form a unity government and we agreed to be able to continue to criticize each other on issues on which we don't agree,” Kennedy said, adding Trump committed to helping him on issues like ending the war in Ukraine and ending censorship. “But these issues are so important for unifying our country, we need in this country to reach a point where we love our children more than we hate each other.”

Kennedy also said there have been no other talks of Cabinet positions in exchange for his endorsement with the Trump campaign.

As for Kennedy’s family — who have all endorsed Biden and now Harris — Kennedy said his family is “free to take their positions” but that “we all need to be able to disagree with each other and still love each other.” When asked about whether his endorsement was made out of revenge or anger with the Democratic Party, he said it had “zero” impact on his decision.

“In anything in my life, I don't act out of anger or revenge or resentment. It's a bad motivation, like swallowing poison hoping someone else will die,” Kennedy said. “So I don't do it. I am very pragmatic and practical.”

Kerry Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s sister, released a statement with her siblings denouncing their brother’s endorsement of Trump. Speaking Sunday on MSNBC's "Inside With Jen Psaki," she said she was “outraged and disgusted” by her brother’s embrace of Trump.

“If my dad were alive today, the real Robert Kennedy would have detested almost everything that Trump represents,” Kerry Kennedy said. “And I completely disavow and separate, dissociate myself from Robert Kennedy Jr. and his flagrant efforts to trample my father's memory.”