Donald Trump's campaign on Friday welcomed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to drop his independent presidential bid and endorse Trump as good news for the Republican nominee.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign sought to reach out to disaffected voters who might have been part of Kennedy's coalition.
While speaking at a restaurant in Las Vegas on Friday, Trump thanked Kennedy for his endorsement.
"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 New York Post reported.
Trump said he would be speaking more about Kennedy's endorsement at a rally in Glendale, Arizona, on Friday night.
"But I just want to thank everybody, and I want to thank Bobby," Trump said, according to the Post. "That was very nice. That was really, that's big. He's a great guy, respected by everybody."
The Trump campaign also released a memo from its pollster Tony Fabrizio that showed Trump would gain the majority of Kennedy's supporters in a head-to-head race against Harris, The Hill reported.
The memo cited campaign polling that found Trump drawing more than half of Kennedy's supporters in Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, and a plurality of supporters in Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
"So, when you hear or see the Harris team and/or the Democrats try and spin otherwise, now that the data clearly paints a different picture," Fabrizio wrote in the memo. "This is good news for President Trump and his campaign — plain and simple."
Kennedy originally tried to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democrat nomination but withdrew from the party and launched an independent bid, claiming the Democratic National Committee worked to squeeze him out of the primary process. Kennedy's initial polling numbers were good, but he has in the past few months dropped to the low single digits.
Harris' campaign made no direct mention of Kennedy in its statement responding to news of his Trump endorsement, The Hill reported. The campaign argued that Harris is offering a new vision for the country that might appeal to disaffected voters.
"For any American out there who is tired of Donald Trump and looking for a new way forward, ours is a campaign for you," Campaign Chair Jen O'Malley Dillon said in a statement, according to The Hill. "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."
Trump has courted Kennedy's support during this election season and reportedly said this week he would be open to giving the son of the former U.S. senator and attorney general and nephew of President John F. Kennedy a spot in his administration should he win in November.
Democrats have branded Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine advocate, as a fringe candidate who is more aligned with the conservative movement despite his family's deep roots within the party.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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