Robert F Kennedy Jr suspends presidential campaign, endorses Donald Trump

Independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr suspended his presidential campaign and threw his support behind former President Donald Trump the New York Times reportedHe announced his plans in a speech in Phoenix saying he was withdrawing his name from the ballot in battleground states He accused the Democratic Party of abandoning democracy and engaging in continued legal warfare against him and TrumpKennedys announcement was preempted on Friday by his own legal team in a filing in a Pennsylvania court case challenging his ballot access in the battleground stateA lawyer for Kennedy wrote that the campaign was dropping its opposition to the complaint as a result of todays endorsement of Donald Trump for the office of President of the United StatesKennedy 70 the scion of a Democratic political dynasty ran a campaign that combined populist economic rhetoric isolationist foreign policy leanings and government skepticism He found a base of support among Kennedycurious independent voters and disaffected Democrats and Republicans according to the NYTHe began his presidential campaign last year as a Democrat seeking to challenge President Biden for the nomination But when he found his path there blocked which he blamed on the Democratic Party he embarked on an independent campaign that unnerved both major parties as allies of both Mr Biden and Mr Trump feared he could siphon support from their candidatesAs Kennedy began to get on state ballots his poll numbers once in the double digits began to soften a trend that is often seen among thirdparty and independent candidates as the general election approaches By the end of August polls put him at around 5 per cent nationwide Additionally his campaign was running out of money campaign finance filings showedKennedy an environmental lawyer has emerged over the past two decades as a prominent opponent of vaccine mandates promoting widely refuted claims that childhood vaccinations cause autism and railing against what he called the corporate capture of the federal government by pharmaceutical companiesOn the campaign trail Kennedy opposed US aid to Ukraine and supported Israels war in Gaza and argued for sealing the southern border He changed his position on abortion several times ultimately landing on restrictions tied to foetal viabilityHe eagerly claimed the mantle of his family legacy often talking about his father Robert F Kennedy and uncle John F Kennedy even as his own family members disavowed his candidature backing President Biden and publicly denouncing his bid as reported by the New York TimesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever