RFK Jr. boards the Trump train

Third-party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he would suspend his campaign in a tearful address on Friday afternoon, citing a diminishing path to victory and a fear that his continued efforts would influence the election in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.

“This decision is agonizing for me because of the difficulties it causes my wife, my children, and my friends,” Kennedy said. “But I have the certainty that this is what I’m meant to do.”

Although he continues to disagree with former President Donald Trump on a number of key issues, Kennedy said he would support the Republican nominee because they have overlapping priorities. Specifically, he pointed to shared policy ideals on the war in Ukraine, chronic illness, and corporate interests in government—areas of agreement that became apparent over conversations between the two.

“He has asked to enlist me in his administration,” Kennedy said. “If I’m given the chance to fix the chronic disease crisis and reform our food production, I promise that within two years we will watch the chronic disease burden lift dramatically.”

He did not specify what role he would assume in a second Trump administration. Kennedy said the Harris campaign had not responded to similar requests for collaboration.

Moments after Kennedy’s announcement, Trump sent a fundraising appeal highlighting the endorsement.

“RFK & I are both sworn enemies of the war-mongering corrupt swamp that occupies our nation’s capitol … with him by my side we’ll dismantle the deep state,” the statement read

Although Kennedy’s run for the presidency highlights voters’ discontent with the two major parties, it also leaves behind many supporters who believe Kennedy helped bring to light issues that the major candidates ignored.

Jason Amatucci helped direct Kennedy’s campaign in Virginia. Amatucci told WORLD that Kennedy gave voice to many priorities he hadn’t heard of from other candidates. He, too, had concerns about chronic illness and corporate influence. Amatucci thinks that, because of Kennedy’s run, those issues will continue to play a role in American politics down the road—maybe even with Kennedy himself.

“I don’t see that as an ending,” Amatucci said, referencing Kennedy’s decision to suspend the campaign. “It’s a new beginning with a lot of possibilities that we didn’t have before. If he’s actually going to be in government, making decisions and making things happen, I think that’s huge. I don’t really understand the mindset that ‘this is ending’ and ‘it’s all down the tube.’”

Amatucci declined to say whether he would have been more inclined to vote for a Democratic candidate or a Republican before Kennedy came into the picture or how he would vote in November.

“I’ll follow Kennedy and follow his lead,” Amatucci said.

Marjorie Hershey, professor emeritus of political science at Indiana University, is skeptical that Kennedy’s policy priorities will have staying power.

“Many people … probably said they support Kennedy simply because they [didn’t] like Trump or Biden and see Kennedy as the only other option,” she said.

In July, polling released by the Pew Research Center found that roughly 50 percent of Kennedy’s supporters said they decided to back him because he provided an alternative to the two major candidates. Nine percent said they supported Kennedy because of his policies.

Kennedy in recent weeks struggled in polling as support increased for the major candidates once Democrats chose Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed President Joe Biden as their nominee and a gunman attempted to assassinate Trump.

After Harris rose to the top of the Democratic ticket, Kennedy had about 7 percent of voter support in national polls, according to Pew Research Center—down from about 15 percent in the same poll just one month before.

“I thought Biden was a weaker candidate,” Amatucci said. “The Democrats were falling into line with Harris. Kennedy said it. He looked at the polling, the funding—it wasn’t just one thing.”

Federal Election Commission disclosures reveal the Kennedy campaign had little gas left in the tank even before the switch. Although it managed to raise $57.6 million since 2023, it had spent $53.7 million at the end of July. That left the campaign with less than $4 million heading into August.

“We know from, again, decades of social research that independent or minor-party candidates virtually always lose the bulk of their polling support as the election approaches and voters realize that they are voting for a president, not a protest vote,” Hershey said. “So in the end, I don’t think it’s likely that Kennedy dropping out will make much difference in the outcome of the election.”

The campaign is over, but Amatucci disagrees that Kennedy’s influence is gone.

From working alongside grassroots efforts in Virginia, he believes a coalition between Trump and Kennedy could still play a role in deciding votes in November.

“There will be a lot of people from the campaign that follow him and follow his lead,” Amatucci said. “This new unity ticket is a very powerful coalition that will combat a lot of the forces that are working against America right now.”