Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will “address the nation” on Friday about his path forward in the 2024 race.
Kennedy will speak in Phoenix, Arizona, a day after the Democratic National Convention concludes in Chicago.
Also in Phoenix that day — former President Donald Trump, who Kennedy’s running mate Nicole Shanahan said was considering an endorsement.
Trump had been trying to gain Kennedy’s support for weeks and the two spoke by phone after the attempted assassination of the ex-president.
On the other hand, the Democrats despised Kennedy, who was previously one of their own.
When Kennedy attempted to reach out to the campaign of Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, trading a Cabinet position for an endorsement and a promise to withdraw from the race, a DNC spokesperson publicly said no.
Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (left) had a phone conversation with former President Donald Trump (right) last month that made it clear Trump was trying to rope him into a potential endorsement. Democrats, on the other hand, aren’t interested
Nicole Shanahan (left), the running mate of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (right), revealed in a podcast this week that the independent is considering throwing in the towel and endorsing former President Donald Trump.
“No one has any intention of negotiating with a MAGA-funded fringe candidate who sought a job with Donald Trump in exchange for an endorsement,” Democratic National Committee spokesman Matt Corridoni told DailyMail.com.
Shanahan appeared on an episode of Tom Bilyeu’s Impact Theory On Tuesday, she said she and RFK Jr. have two options: They can stay in the race and hope to get 5 percent of the vote to officially form a new political party.
“But we run the risk of a Kamala Harris-Walz presidency,” the former Democrat said. “Because we’re taking votes away from Trump or somehow taking more votes away from Trump.”
“Or we can step out right now and join Donald Trump and, you know, step away from that and explain to our supporters why we’re making this decision,” she added. “Not an easy decision.”
Shanahan explained that a number of measures taken by the Democratic Party to prevent her ticket from playing a “spoiler” role in the election prevented her from ever supporting the Party again.
“The DNC has made that impossible for us. They’ve banned us, shadowbanned us, kept us off stages, manipulated polls, used lawfare against us, sued us in every state they could,” she alleged. “They’ve even planted insiders in our campaign to disrupt it and create real legal problems for us.”
“The extent to which they sabotage us is staggering. We’re still learning new ways that they’ve sabotaged us,” Shanahan continued.
Democrats have filed a number of lawsuits to keep the Kennedy-Shanahan ticket off the ballot.
A party spokesman has repeatedly claimed that Kennedy’s campaign was designed to give Trump an advantage.
Trump, on the other hand, was heard on the phone last month suggesting he could throw RFK Jr. a bone.
He reiterated that point during an interview with CNN Tuesday.
A truck promoting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign is seen outside the Bitcoin conference being held at the Music City Center in Nashville
“Definitely,” he replied when asked if there was a role for RKF Jr. in a Trump 2.0 administration.
“I like him and I respect him,” Trump continued. “He’s a brilliant guy. He’s a very smart guy. I’ve known him for a long time. I didn’t know he was thinking about leaving, but if he was thinking about leaving, I would certainly be open to it.”
Shanahan said in Impact Theory that the former president “has a genuine, sincere interest in our policies around chronic disease.”
“He takes it seriously. So I think it behooves us to sit down and see if we can actually make a change,” the vice presidential candidate added.
The 38-year-old said Kennedy would do an “incredible job with HHS,” but then twisted the meaning of that acronym.
“Human Health Services,” she told Bilyeu.
It’s the United States Department of Health and Human Services.