PHOENIX — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will speak Friday "about the present historical moment and his path forward," his campaign announced Wednesday, fueling growing speculation that Kennedy could drop out and support Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Kennedy's running mate openly discussed the possibility on a podcast this week, saying the campaign was considering a move to "join forces" with Trump to limit the election chance of Kamala Harris, whose Democratic convention winds up Thursday night in Chicago. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
, waves to the media outside the Nassau County Supreme Court in Mineola, N.Y. on Wednesday, Aug.
, 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah) The move would have once seemed unthinkable for Kennedy, a Democrat for most of his life and — as the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of Robert F.
Kennedy — a member of a beloved Democratic dynasty. Last month, during the Republican National Convention, Kennedy's son posted and then quickly deleted a video showing a phone call between Kennedy and Trump, in which the former president appeared to try to talk Kennedy into siding with him. Kennedy will give a speech in Phoenix, hours before Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in neighboring Glendale.
A spokesperson for Kennedy, Stefanie Spear, declined to say whether he planned to drop out or why he chose Arizona for his speech. After leaving the Democratic primary to run as an independent, Kennedy built an unusually strong base of support for someone running without the backing of a major party. It was unclear exactly where his support was coming from, which worried Republicans and Democrats alike.
But since President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign and Democrats coalesced around Vice President Harris as their nominee, Kennedy's rise has been stunted. It looks increasingly unlikely that he will be able to make the debate stage when Trump and Harris face off next month, a moment Kennedy counted on for momentum and legitimacy. His campaign finances have also been strained.
Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gives witness testimony at the Nassau County Supreme Court in Mineola, N.
Y. on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024.
(Stefan Jeremiah/Pool Photo via AP) The news comes a little over a week since a New York judge ruled that Kennedy should not appear on the ballot in the state because he listed a "sham" address on nominating petitions. Kennedy has appealed, but has faced several similar challenges around the country. On Wednesday, he was in a courtroom in a suburb of New York City, testifying in a trial for another ballot suit in the state, this one backed by the Democratic National Committee, that challenges the signatures collected by his campaign.
During a break in the court proceedings, Kennedy declined to answer questions from reporters about whether he was dropping out. He's also facing a likely legal challenge in Arizona, where last week he submitted signatures that may have been collected by a super PAC that supports him, which Kennedy's critics say is illegal coordination between a candidate and an independent political group. ___ Swenson reported from New York.
Associated Press writer Cedar Attanasio contributed from Mineola, New York. ___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP's democracy initiative here.
The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___ Robert Kennedy Jr., when asked why he was wearing a "Black is beautiful," button Thursday on April 1, 1982 in New York He points to his fiance Emily Black.
Her reaction was even more simple. She just pointed to herself and smiled. The couple at Trax after friend gave Kennedy a bachelor party in New York earlier in the evening.
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Emily Black Kennedy, at right with Art Buchwald, center at a reception celebrating the publication of the autobiography of Virginia Durr, "Outside the Magic Circle", at the library of New York University on Feb 19, 1986, at New York.
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) President Bill Clinton chats with Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy, and her son, Robert Kennedy Jr., before the start of a memorial mass, Sunday, June 6, 1993 at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
Thousands joined the Kennedy family to honor RFK on the 25th anniversary of his death. (AP Photo/Greg Gibson) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
fishes with his son Bobby, 8, left, and daughter Kathleen, nicknamed "Kick," on the dock of his 11-acre Mount Kisco estate, Sept. 7, 1993. Environmental lawyer Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. speaks during a ceremony in Washington Tuesday July 22, 1997 where the Earth Conservation Corps released four three-month eagles. Challenger the Eagle, the only trained free-flying eagle in the U.
S. who entertained during the event is at right. (AP Photo/Ruth Fremson) Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. appears with Liz Claiborne at the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards in New York, Thursday, June 15, 2000. Claiborne was honored with the lifetime achievement award.
(AP Photo/Mitch Jacobson) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, addresses the delegates at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, July 28, 2004, in Boston.
(AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., gestures while speaking at Unity College in Unity, Maine, Friday, Sept.
23, 2005. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
testifies in Superior Court in Stamford, Conn., Tuesday, April 17, 2007, at a hearing to determine whether his cousin, Michael Skakel, should receive a new trial in the 1975 bludgeoning death of Martha Moxley. Skakel was tried and found guilty of Moxley's death in 2002.
(AP Photo/Bob Child) Actor Jim Carrey, left, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speak on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 4, 2008, during a rally calling for the elimination of toxins from children's vaccines.
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during the Green Sunday At Red Rocks Democratic National Convention welcoming concert in Morrison, Colo.
on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles) Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr., left, speaks with former United States President Bill Clinton during a ceremony to mark the official renaming of the Triborough Bridge to the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in New York, Wednesday, Nov.
19, 2008. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) MSG: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
and his wife Mary arrive during funeral services for U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston, Massachusetts August 29, 2009.
Senator Kennedy died late Tuesday after a battle with cancer. REUTERS/Brian Snyder Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
, left, gestures as he speaks during a news conference as he endorses Gov. Charlie Crist, right, in Crist's independent candidacy for the Senate, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010 at Shelby's Kitchen & Deli in Deerfield Beach, Fla.
(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) Environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes remarks during a rally Monday, May 7, 2012, in Portland, Ore.
Columbia Riverkeeper, the Sierra Club, Climate Solutions and Greenpeace sponsored the rally to fight a half-dozen proposals to ship coal from Montana and Wyoming to Asia through Northwest ports. The opponents warn of local problems from coal dust and long coal trains. They also say expanding Asian access to American coal would be bad for the world environment.
(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, and his children turn away after paying their respects at the casket of Mary Richardson Kennedy, in St.
Francis Xavier Cemetery in Centerville, Mass., Saturday, May 19, 2012. Mary Richardson Kennedy was found dead of an apparent suicide last week at her home in Bedford, N.
Y. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
attends the premiere of the HBO documentary "Ethel" at the Time Warner Center on Monday Oct. 15, 2012 in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. is arrested in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, as prominent environmental leaders tied themselves to the White House gate to protest the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
(AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt) Activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, attend the Robert F.
Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award ceremony, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow) Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. arrives in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, for a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Woody Harrelson, left, star of "LBJ," embraces Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the premiere of the film at the ArcLight Hollywood on Tuesday, Oct.
24, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Cheryl Hines, right, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
appear in the audience at the 24th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Invision/AP) Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr. attends the 2018 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Awards at the New York Hilton Midtown on Wednesday, Dec.
12, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP) Attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
speaks after a hearing challenging the constitutionality of the state legislature's repeal of the religious exemption to vaccination on behalf of New York state families who held lawful religious exemptions, during a rally outside the Albany County Courthouse Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019, in Albany, N.Y.
(AP Photo/Hans Pennink) Attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., speaks against proposed Democratic bills that would add new doses of vaccines to attend school, during a protest rally on behalf of New York state families against the vaccination of children at the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan.
8, 2020, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink) Robert F.
Kennedy Jr., son of Robert Kennedy, stages a protest against the COVID-19 vaccination green pass in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021.
(AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at an event where he announced his run for president on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, in Boston.
(AP Photo/Josh Reynolds) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., arrives to testify before a House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 20, 2023.
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