Former President Trump on Friday, while speaking at a restaurant in Las Vegas, thanked Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for his endorsement minutes after the third-party candidate said he was suspending his campaign because he didn’t want to “be a spoiler.”
“We just had a very nice endorsement from RFK Jr, Bobby,” Trump said at Il Toro E La Capra eatery just off the Vegas Strip, where he addressed restaurant workers and other supporters.
The Republican presidential nominee said that he would be speaking more about RFK Jr.’s endorsement at a rally in Glendale, Arizona, on Friday evening, the same venue where Vice President Harris held a large rally earlier this month, and where Trump teased a “surprise guest.”
He continued, “But I just want to thank everybody, and I want to thank Bobby. That was very nice. That was really, that’s big. He’s a great guy, respected by everybody.”
RFK Jr. endorsed Trump just minutes before the former president began speaking in Las Vegas, saying during a scheduled press conference in Glendale that he planned to stay off the ballot in red and blue states, so people could vote for him there, but remove his name from battleground states.
“Three causes drove me to enter this race in the first place. And these are the principal causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent and now to throw my support at President Trump,” RFK Jr. said.
“The causes were free speech, war in Ukraine and the war on our children.”
RFK Jr. said that the Democratic National Committee “waged continued legal war” on both Trump and himself, while also accusing the DNC of running a “sham primary” that prevented a serious primary challenge to President Biden before he secured the Democratic nomination, then dropped out in July, endorsing Harris.
Harris’ campaign reached out to RFK Jr. supporters in a statement to Fox News on 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. In order to deliver for working people and those who feel left behind, we need a leader who will fight for you, not just for themselves, and bring us together, not tear us apart. Vice President Harris wants to earn your support. 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.”
DNC senior advisor Mary Beth Cahill said “good riddance.”
“The more voters learned about RFK Jr. the less they liked him. Donald Trump isn’t earning an endorsement that’s going to help build support, he’s inheriting the baggage of a failed fringe candidate. Good riddance,” she said.
