Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he's suspending his presidential bid and backing Donald Trump

PHOENIX -- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Friday he is suspending his long-shot campaign for president and instead supporting former President Donald Trump.

He did so at an event in Phoenix, Arizona, during which he encouraged voters in red or blue states to vote for him but said he would remove himself from the ballot in battleground states where he could act as a "spoiler."

"I want everyone to know that I am not terminating my campaign," he said. "I am simply suspending it and not ending it."

He went on to explain what drove him to enter the race, to leave the Democratic Party and "now to throw my support to President Trump."

Just before he took the stage, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign filed a court document in Pennsylvania which said Kennedy would endorse Trump.

Trump, who was in Nevada campaigning as Kennedy spoke, quickly celebrated his support. Trump will be in Arizona later Friday to hold a rally in Glendale, where he teased he would be joined by a "special guest."

"We just had a very nice endorsement from RFK Jr., Bobby," Trump said in Las Vegas. "That's big. He's a great guy, respected by everybody."

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee responded to Kennedy's announcement with a statement of "good riddance."

"The more voters learned about RFK Jr. the less they liked him," said DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill. "Donald Trump isn't earning an endorsement that's going to help build support, he's inheriting the baggage of a failed fringe candidate."

Kennedy began his White House run in April 2023 as a Democrat to challenge President Joe Biden, but months later dropped the bid and the party that his family has symbolized for decades to chart a new course as an independent. He named Nicole Shanahan, a Silicon Valley lawyer, to be his running mate.

Kennedy's anti-vaccine stance and controversial remarks about COVID-19 had alienated him among Democrats, and he frequently sparred with the Democratic National Committee about the primary process, which he decried as unfair.

Members of his own family, too, were critical of his views and of his presidential run. Fifteen Kennedy family members made a statement by endorsing Biden at a campaign stop in Philadelphia when he was still in the race.

Five of his siblings released a joint statement on Friday stating they believed in Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

"We want an America filled with hope and bound together by a shared vision of a brighter future, a future defined by individual freedom, economic promise and national pride. We believe in Harris and Walz," said Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Chris Kennedy and Rory 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," they continued. "It is a sad ending to a sad story."