➡️ Breaking Down RFK Jr.'s Endorsement of Trump

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🚨 KEY STORY:

🤯 Why Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Endorsing Trump is a Pretty Big Deal

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KEY STORY

Why Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Endorsing Trump is a Pretty Big Deal

On Friday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. officially dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and pledged to endorse Donald Trump.

To be clear: Kennedy confirms he is pausing, not ending, his campaign for now. His name will stay on the ballot in most states. He urges voters in red or blue states to vote for him. But, they should not harm or help President Trump in blue states, or Vice President Harris in red states.

• “I promised the American people that I would withdraw from the race if I became a spoiler,” said Kennedy.

• A spoiler is someone who will alter the outcome of the election but has no chance of winning. Kennedy believes, “In my heart, I no longer believe that I have a realistic path to electoral victory.”

• In about 10 battleground states where Kennedy fears being a "spoiler," he will remove his name. He said, "I've started that process and urge voters not to vote for me."”

Trump holds Kennedy Jr. in high esteem.

The quote: "I like him, and I respect him," Trump told CNN after RFK Jr.'s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said they might drop out and join forces with Trump.

• Trump also said he "probably" would give RFK a role in his administration.

• "He's a brilliant guy. He's a very smart guy," Trump said.

• "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."

Perspective: Shanahan claims that Democrats are "terrified" of a Trump alliance with their movement.

• Hours after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, a member of his administration reached out to Kennedy Jr. The former president "was anxious to talk to me about chronic disease."”

• “I was surprised to discover  that we are aligned on many key issues.”

• “In those meetings, he suggested that we join forces as a unity party. We talked about Abraham Lincoln's team of rivals. That arrangement would allow us to disagree publicly and privately and furiously if need be on issues over which we differ.”

The Polls Tell Us How This Endorsement Could Sway The Election

Look at the polls: A Fox News poll found 41% of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voters would vote for Trump. Only 27% would vote for Harris.

• A New York Times/Siena College poll found that 6% of voters would support Kennedy in a six-way contest.

• A Quinnipiac University poll showed 8% of voters would vote for Kennedy in a six-way matchup.

• Also, a Wall Street Journal poll had Kennedy at 4% among voters.

In short: Kennedy's exit to endorse Trump would likely help Trump. He usually polls worse when third-party candidates are included.

• Any Independent voters Kennedy takes hurt Trump more than Harris: Kennedy wins 8% of Democratic-leaning independents, and 23% of Republican-leaning ones, according to polls.

• Recent polls show Kennedy's support in the single digits. He was receiving as much as 15% in some polls earlier this year.

The Democrats Don’t Like Kennedy

Kennedy thinks Democrats aren't interested in his ideas. He said, "Vice President Harris declined to meet or even to speak with me."” 

• “Suspending my candidacy is a hard rending decision for me, but I'm convinced that it's the best hope for ending the Ukraine war and ending the chronic disease epidemic that is eroding our nation's vitality from the inside.  

• “And for finally protecting free speech, I feel a moral obligation to use this opportunity to save millions of American children, above all things.”

Legal Warfare: Both candidates face relentless lawsuits and attacks from Democrats.

• Kennedy's running mate is critical of Democrats on a post to X. She said, "When I point out what the Democratic Party and their super PACs have done to sabotage our campaign, they always respond, 'but Trump is worse.'"” 

• “Here’s an idea: stop suing us. Let us debate. Quit rigging the media and the polls. It’s a simple formula, people—get with it.”

A look deeper within: Kennedy criticized President Biden and the Democrats for trying to keep him off the ballot in all 50 states and out of the presidential debates.

• Kennedy has ballot access in five states: Utah, Michigan, Delaware, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.

• He is facing legal challenges in five states: Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Delaware, and New Jersey.

• His opponents say he is a spoiler candidate. They fear he could aid Trump in the election. They plan to file more lawsuits against him.

• The DNC vowed to keep challenging Kennedy's ballot access efforts.

Kennedy Faction Aligns More With Trump

On the issues: In his press conference Friday, Kennedy said, “the chronic disease crisis was one of the primary reasons for my running for president, along with ending the censorship and the Ukraine war. It's the reason I've made the heart wrenching decision  to suspend my campaign and to support president Trump.”

• Kennedy tried to reach the Harris campaign to discuss this. But, his attempts to communicate were rejected.

• According to Kennedy Jr., he believes “Vice president Harris has expressed no interest in addressing this issue.” 

• “More and more years of democratic rule will complete the consolidation of corporate and neocon power. And our children will be the ones who suffer most. I got involved with chronic disease 20 years ago, not because I chose to or wanted to. It was essentially thrust upon me.” 

Trump's Policy Stances: 

On Reversing the Chronic Disease Epidemic: Kennedy criticizes childhood obesity and ultra-processed foods. He blames them for rising mental health issues in kids. He also notes that chronic disease spending is five times our military budget. 

• With Trump's backing, he pledges to end the crisis. He will root out bad actors, bring healthy foods back to school lunches, get toxic chemicals out of food, and fight against big Pharma.

• “If president Trump is elected and honors his word, the vast burden of chronic disease that now, demoralizes and bankrupts the country, will disappear.”

On Ending the War Machine: Trump's Republican platform to Restore Peace through Strength says, “War breeds Inflation while geopolitical stability brings price stability. Republicans will end the global chaos and restore Peace through Strength, reducing geopolitical risks and lowering commodity prices.”

• Russian President Vladimir Putin believed that Republican candidate Donald Trump was sincere about wanting to end the war in Ukraine. But, he did not know how Trump planned to do so if elected.

• Kennedy criticizes the Biden administration for its handling of the Russia-Ukraine war. He says they "repeatedly spurned Russia's offer to settle this war peacefully."”

• “In 2019, America walked away from a peace treaty, the Minsk Agreement, that had been negotiated between Russia and Ukraine by European nations.” 

On Protecting Free Speech: Trump's Republican platform to Dismantle Censorship & Protect Free Speech says, “we will ban the Federal Government from colluding with anyone to censor Lawful Speech, defund institutions engaged in censorship, and hold accountable all bureaucrats involved with illegal censoring. We will protect Free Speech online.”

• Kennedy believes that he would have won the election in “a system that my father and my uncles thrived in, a system with open debates, with fair primaries, with regularly scheduled debates, with fair primaries, and with a truly independent media  untainted by government propaganda and censorship, in a system of nonpartisan courts, and election boards.”

• He says what alarms him the most is “the resort to censorship and media control and the weaponization of the federal agencies. When a U. S. president colludes with or outright coerces  media companies to censor political speech, it's an attack on our most sacred right.”

• He claimed the “DNC allied mainstream media networks” maintained a near perfect embargo on interviews with him and accused ABC, NBC, CBS,  MSNBC, and CNN of running a “continuous deluge of hit pieces with inaccurate, often vile, pejoratives and defamatory smears.

• “Some of those same networks colluded with the D. N. C. to keep me off the debate stage.”

On Ending Politicization Of Enforcement Agencies: Trump's Republican platform to Stop Woke and Weaponized Government says, “We will hold accountable those who have misused the power of Government to unjustly prosecute their Political Opponents. We will declassify Government records, root out wrongdoers, and fire corrupt employees.”

• In what Kennedy called "legal warfare," he was frustrated. Democrats used DNC-aligned judges to keep him off the ballot and jail Trump.

• Kennedy claimed that “each time that our volunteers turned in those towering boxes of signatures needed to get on the ballot, the DNC dragged us into court.”

• He also noted how the states tried to "erase their work and subvert the will of the voters who signed those petitions." It deployed DNC aligned judges to throw me and other candidates off the ballot and to throw President Trump in jail.” 

• “It ran a sham primary. "I was rigged to prevent any serious challenge to president Biden," said Kennedy at his press conference Friday. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined former President Trump on stage at a rally in Glendale, Arizona. This was soon after he suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump. Trump told the crowd that both he and RFK Jr. are committed to doing what's right for the country. Trump said he would create a commission on assassination attempts if he wins the presidency.

This commission must release all documents on the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy, RFK Jr.'s uncle.

FROM THE EDITOR

You’re a special kind of person if you reached the end of the road here. :)

-Mike