Trump on reports RFK, Jr. will end 2024 bid: 'I respect him'
FOX Business correspondent Grady Trimble speaks with former President Trump about reports Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will drop out of the 2024 race and endorse him on 'Special Report.'
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. plans to address the nation about his path forward in the presidential race Friday from Phoenix.
Kennedy’s press secretary, Stefanie Spear, posted the announcement about "the present historic moment and his path forward" on social media on Wednesday afternoon.
The announcement comes after Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, blasted Democrats on Tuesday, saying she "fully supports" a role for Kennedy in a future Trump administration. Shanahan also hinted that they could end their campaign and back former President Trump.
Coincidentally, Trump is holding an Arizona rally on Friday in Glendale, which is about 20 minutes from Phoenix.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks during the Freedom Fest at the Caesars Forum Conference Center in Las Vegas. (Daniel Jacobi II/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has reached out to Kennedy's camp seeking confirmation on whether Kennedy is planning to drop out of the presidential race, as reported by ABC News from sources.
The same sources cautioned the station, saying Kennedy's decision has not been finalized and could change. One source also reportedly told the station Kennedy hopes to finalize his decision quickly and slow down momentum built during the Democratic National Convention.
FOX Business Network's Grady Trimble spoke to Trump in Asheboro, North Carolina on Wednesday, asking the former president if he had spoken to Kennedy over the past 24 hours, amid reports that he was going to drop out of the race by the end of the week.
"I haven't, but I respect him. I've respected him for a long time. I mean, I know where he's coming from and it's a little different philosophy. Very smart guy, however. And I had heard he was thinking about it for a period of time, but no, I have not heard this," Trump said.
Trimble also asked Trump if he was going to have Kennedy on stage with him in Arizona, as both candidates are set to hold events near Phoenix on Friday.
"I would always be honored to. I mean, if he endorsed me, would I be honored by that? Absolutely," Trump said.
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks at a press conference in Philadelphia. (Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images)
Shortly before the announcement on Wednesday, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, Kennedy’s daughter-in-law and campaign manager, emailed campaign staff.
"For the last 19 months (22 months for the original core), this team — this family — has worked seven days a week, ten plus hours a day, in blizzards and blazing heat, sacrificing family time, personal commitments, and any hope of sleep, in service to our shared vision for this country," she wrote. "Never, in all these months, has Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sidestepped his movement to communicate his heart through back-channel leaks. Nor would he ever, especially in this most consequential moment for us all. So please, hold tight until you hear directly from him."
When the campaign began, Fox Kennedy explained, none of the national leaders were discussing chronic disease or the "corporate capture of our government."
"What I can tell you is this. Bobby has been in a period of deep discernment. It has been clear to him for some weeks now that our movement will decide the future of the country," she wrote. "Any path forward changes the outcome. With calcified support on both sides of the aisle, this 10+% of the electorate is the only molten force in the race. And as the leader carving the path to which we flow, Bobby feels the weight of that responsibility, shifting, as he is, the very landscape of American history."
Fox Kennedy asked her team to "keep an open mind" and "not believe everything" they hear, adding there are several potential paths forward, not just two.
RFK JR. DISQUALIFIED FROM NEW YORK BALLOT, USED 'SHAM' ADDRESS FOR RESIDENCY, JUDGE RULES
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump. (Getty Images)
Over the course of the last year, Kennedy’s polling numbers have caved in. Earlier in the campaign, he had double digits, but according to the latest Fox News national poll, he is in the single digits.
While Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris both have 45% of the vote, Kennedy appears to only have 6%.
Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, was asked about Kennedy joining forces with the Trump campaign on Wednesday morning during an appearance on "Fox and Friends."
"I think it would be good for the campaign," Vance said. "I've never talked to RFK about this, but my pitch to him and to a lot of his voters would be the Democratic Party of my grandparents that supported his uncle. John F. Kennedy for president has been completely abandoned by the modern leadership of the Democratic Party."
He continued, saying the old Democratic Party believed in strong borders, building and making things in America, and strong national security.
"This modern Democratic Party is focused on division," Vance said. "It's focused on putting people into racial and gender buckets, and then using those divisions for political power, and it doesn't believe in anything common sense like American manufacturing or a strong American border."
Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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