RFK Jr considers dropping out to help Trump, running mate says

Robert F Kennedy Jr is considering abandoning his campaign as an insurgent independent presidential candidate in order to help the election of Donald Trump, his running mate has said.

The startling disclosure was made by Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy’s vice-presidential candidate, who said the pair were considering dropping their campaign over fears it might help elect Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, as president.

Shanahan’s remarks , made on the Impact Theory With Tim Bilyeau podcast, were close to an all-out admission that Kennedy’s campaign had more in common with Trump than Harris. Kennedy was a member of the Democratic party and attempted to run as its nominee before choosing to stand as an independent.

Related: Barack Obama to deliver ‘forceful affirmation’ for Kamala Harris in Democratic convention speech – live

“There’s two options that we’re looking at, and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and [Tim] Walz presidency because we draw votes from Trump,” said Shanahan, a wealthy Silicon Valley attorney, reportedly worth $1bn as a result of her former marriage to Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google.

“[Or] we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump … and we explain to our base why we’re making this decision.”

Shanahan said the conundrum was “not an easy decision” but added that her sympathies lay more with Trump and his wealthy backers than with Harris’s campaign, which has its own moneyed supporters.

“If we are splitting hairs, I would say that I trust the future of this county more under the leadership of Trump and the [Peter] Thiels [the founder of PayPal and a leading Trump backer] and the JD Vances [the Republican vice-presidential nominee] than I do right now under Harris and the Reid Hoffmans [a Democratic-supporting mega-donor],” she said.

Not long after Shanahan’s comments were made public, Trump told CNN’s Kristen Holmes in Michigan he would “certainly” be open to giving Kennedy a role in a future Trump administration.

“I like him, and I respect him,” Trump said.

“He’s a brilliant guy. He’s a very smart guy. I’ve known him for a very long time. I didn’t know he was thinking about getting out, but if he is thinking about getting out, certainly I’d be open to it.”

Shanahan’s comments followed recent polls indicating that Kennedy – who has traded in anti-vaccination conspiracy theories that tend to have greater currency on the right than among Democratic-leaning voters – was drawing more support from Trump than from Harris.

Kennedy’s potential to act as a spoiler has long been a source of political guesswork. Commentators have expressed uncertainty whether the Democrats or Republicans stand to lose more from his candidacy. Kennedy is currently running at about 5% in many surveys.

The revelation that he is considering standing aside comes after he met Trump at last month’s Republican national convention in Milwaukee. At that time, Trump reportedly sought his endorsement, and the two discussed the possibility of Kennedy being given a job in a future Trump administration.

Kennedy was apparently rebuffed when he recently sought a similar meeting with Harris.

“No one has any intention of negotiating with a Maga-funded fringe candidate who has sought out a job with Donald Trump in exchange for an endorsement,” a Democratic National Committee source told the New York Post.

Trump and Kennedy have received generous funding from Timothy Mellon, heir to one of America’s most famous banking families. Mellon, a known Trump financial backer, has given $25m to American Values 2024, a Super Pac supporting Kennedy’s presidential campaign, most recently in April, when he donated $5m.

Kennedy – scion of America’s most famous political dynasty and son of the former US attorney general – was denounced by his own siblings when he announced his presidential campaign as an independent last autumn.

“The decision of our brother Bobby to run as a third-party candidate against Joe Biden [the then presumptive Democratic nominee] is dangerous to our country,” said sisters Rory Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend; and brother Joseph P Kennedy II in a statement last October.

“Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment. We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country.”