RFK Jr to drop out of presidential race by end of week, sources say

Independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr is planning to drop out of the 2024 race by the end of this week, sources tell ABC News.

The outlet reported on Wednesday that Kennedy is leaning towards backing former President Donald Trump, but those familiar with the candidate’s thinking noted that could still change.

One source told ABC that Kennedy is working to finalize his decision quickly in hopes of quashing some of the Democrats’ momentum from their convention in Chicago.

Kennedy is set to make a speech on Friday in Phoenix, Arizona, about the “path forward” for his campaign. Meanwhile, Trump is scheduled to host an event on Friday night in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale.

News of the speech comes after the independent’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said on a podcast on Tuesday that the campaign was considering two options: reing in the race, which could “risk” a victory for Vice President Kamala Harris, or leaving the race to “join forces” with Trump.

JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, told NBC News on Wednesday that there’s been plenty of communication between the campaigns.

“I haven’t spoken to RFK personally, but I know there’s been a lot of communication back and forth between RFK, between the campaign, between this campaign,” Vance told NBC.

“Our argument to RFK … is … if you want a Democratic Party that protected American workers and stood for strong borders, maybe disagreed with Republicans on things like tax policy, that party doesn’t exist anymore,” he argued.

Vance added that Trump wouldn’t necessarily give Kennedy a cabinet position if the independent endorsed him. But the former president did tell CNN on Tuesday that he was open to Kennedy joining a second Trump administration.

“I like him a lot. I respect him a lot,” Trump told CNN.

During the Republican convention in Milwaukee last month, Trump and Kennedy met face to face shortly after the assassination attempt which saw the former president grazed by a bullet during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Kennedy has been making fewer stops on the campaign trail in the last few weeks. His last campaign-sponsored event was in early July.