Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to make a campaign speech addressing “his path forward” on Friday, days after his running mate said the campaign faced a choice about staying in the 2024 election or dropping out to back Donald Trump.
Kennedy’s campaign announced he will hold an event in Phoenix on Friday. Trump, meanwhile, is also set to host an event on Friday night, in Glendale, a Phoenix suburb.
Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy’s running mate, said Tuesday that the ticket is weighing two options right now. One is to stay in the race and “risk” a Harris-Walz presidency, as she put it in a podcast interview, while the other option was to drop out of the race and “join forces” with Trump.
Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, told NBC News in an interview Wednesday that “there’s been a lot of communication back and forth” between Kennedy and his campaign.
“I haven’t spoken to RFK personally, but I know there’s been a lot of communication back and forth between RFK, between the campaign, between this campaign,” Vance said. “Look, our argument to RFK, and I’ll make it right now, because, of course, he hasn’t dropped out yet, is, look: If you want a Democratic Party that protected American workers and stood for strong borders, maybe disagreed with Republicans on things like tax policy, that party doesn’t exist anymore.”
Vance also said Trump wouldn’t promise a Cabinet position for Kennedy’s endorsement.
“I know the president’s been working hard for that, but it’s completely separate from whether RFK gets a Cabinet position,” Vance said. “It’s about welcoming a lot of those Democrats who feel abandoned by the party of Kamala Harris.”
Kennedy’s presence on the 2024 campaign trail has been minimal in recent weeks. He has not hosted a public, campaign-sponsored event since early July, and Shanahan hasn’t been seen on the trail in months. Kennedy’s standing in public polling has slipped, too.
The campaign has faced a string of damaging stories, from groping allegations from a former family babysitter to the bizarre story that Kennedy picked up a bear carcass on the side of the road years ago and used it to stage a bicycle accident in New York’s Central Park.
And he also faces financial troubles. During an interview with CBS News last month, Kennedy said the campaign was $3 million in debt. Shanahan, who has been pouring her own millions into the campaign, received a refund of almost $1 million in July, according to the most recent campaign finance report.
Kennedy’s endeavor for ballot access in all 50 states has also hit a roadblock. He was recently disqualified from the ballot in New York state, after a judge ruled that his home address used on signature petitions was not his place of residency.