In suspending his presidential campaign Friday afternoon, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed Donald Trump for a second term, drawing criticism from his storied political family and other Democrats.
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist, is the son of former US attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former president John F. Kennedy.
“Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear,” Kennedy’s siblings, Kathleen, Courtney, Kerry, Chris, and Rory Kennedy wrote in a statement. “It is a sad ending to a sad story.”
The independent, who began his presidential campaign as a Democrat, said he decided to endorse Trump after meeting with him last month in Florida, shortly after the former president survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Kennedy said he and Trump share priorities, such as a pledge to “seal” the US southern border and an anti-interventionist approach to foreign policy.
While Trump has been publicly critical of Kennedy in the past, he has made efforts to bring the third-party candidate onto his side. In the wake of a July meeting between Kennedy and Trump at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, as well as a leaked phone call in which Trump can be heard attempting to bring Kennedy into the fold, rumors have circulated that Kennedy would drop his campaign and get behind Trump.
However, choosing to endorse Trump, Kennedy said Friday, was “agonizing for me because of the difficulties it causes my wife and my children and my friends.”
“My joining the Trump campaign will be a difficult sacrifice for my wife and children,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy entered the Democratic primary for president in April 2023, billing himself as a “Kennedy Democrat” in his announcement speech at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston. In October 2023, he pivoted to a third-party bid, calling on his followers to “declare your independence” from the country’s two dominant political parties.
His relatives have largely rejected Kennedy’s presidential bid in favor of the Democratic ticket, as have a number of aides who worked for his father.
The family quickly came to the side of Vice President Kamala Harris Friday, writing in a statement that “we believe in Harris and Walz,” his siblings wrote, referring to Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Kennedy’s relative, Jack Schlossberg, said he has “never been less surprised in my life” to hear that Kennedy had endorsed Trump.
“RFKjr is for sale, works for Trump. Bedfellows and loving it,” Schlossberg, who recently attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, wrote on X. “Kamala Harris is for the people — the easiest decision of all time just got easier.”
The Democratic National Committee said in a statement that with Kennedy’s endorsement, Trump is “inheriting the baggage of a failed fringe candidate.”
“Good riddance,” DNC adviser Mary Beth Cahill wrote.
Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign is enjoying the renewed attention, especially after a particularly high-voltage DNC.
At an event in Nevada, Trump thanked Kennedy for the endorsement. “I want to thank Bobby, that was very nice.” He said he would soon fly to Arizona to talk “about that and a lot of other things.”
Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski wrote on X that Kennedy’s endorsement is “what true ‘Country Over Party’ sounds like from a (former) Democrat, as RFK Jr. absolutely guts today’s Democrat Party, a party his father & uncle would not recognize.”
Trump campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio wrote in a memo that the endorsement “is good news for President Trump and his campaign — plain and simple.”
DNC adviser Ramsey Reid felt the contrary, writing in a memo, “Here’s what RFK Jr.’s endorsement of Donald Trump would change: nothing.”
Some political analysts agree.
“Most of Kennedy’s voters aren’t loyal to Kennedy. They chose him because they didn’t like Biden or Trump,” said John Cluverius, a political science professor at UMass Lowell. “It’s wrong to assume Kennedy’s share of voters will now automatically vote for Trump.”
Democratic pollster John Anzalone wrote on X: “Reality check and calm down time. RFK Jr. getting out changes the model by .2 of one percent. Snore.”
Even still, Harris’s presidential campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, made a bid for Kennedy voters Friday.
“For any American out there who is tired of Donald Trump and looking for a new way forward, ours is a campaign for you,” she wrote in a statement. “Even if we do not agree on every issue, Kamala Harris knows there is more that unites us than divides us: respect for our rights, public safety, protecting our freedoms, and opportunity for all.”
Emma Platoff of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Samantha J. Gross can be reached at samantha.gross@globe.com. Follow her @samanthajgross.