RFK Jr. May Want To Rethink Trump Endorsement After What The Ex-President Said About His Family

There won't be another presidential Kennedy in 2024. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who began running as a Democrat before switching to running as an independent candidate, announced on August 23, 2024, that he was bowing out of the race. He also endorsed former President Donald Trump in his speech, saying, "These are the principled causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to throw my support to President Trump. The causes were: Free speech, the war in Ukraine, and the war on our children" (via NBC News). RFK Jr.'s announcement of dropping out comes about a month after many people told him to drop out following his embarrassing phone call scandal with Trump.

However, RFK Jr. may want to rethink his endorsement based on the nasty things Trump has said about his family previously. Per AP News, Trump called the RFK Jr.'s family "a bunch of lunatics," along with accusing RFK Jr. of being a "Democrat 'Plant'" and working for the far-left. 

RFK Jr. has fired back at Trump. After Trump called him a "Radical Left Lunatic" (via Forbes), RFK Jr. took to X, formerly known as Twitter, in April 2024 to speak his mind: "President Trump's rant against me is a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims that should best be resolved in the American tradition of presidential debate." He went on to list the ways that he would prove that Trump failed his supporters.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also spoken ill of Donald Trump in text messages. In texts published by the New Yorker from early August 2024, RFK Jr. called Trump, "a terrible human being. The worse [sic] president ever and barely human. He is probably a sociopath."

Despite that friction, RFK Jr. aligned himself with his former political enemy, and not only did Kennedy family members slam RFK Jr.'s presidential hopes, they also slammed his endorsement of Donald Trump. A statement shared to X and signed by five of RFK Jr.'s siblings described what they hope for the future of America and continued, "We believe in [Kamala] Harris and [Tim] Walz. Our brother Bobby's decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story."

John F. Kennedy's grandson Jack Schlossberg has also criticized RFK Jr.'s presidential run, and he also took to X with his opinions on the drop-out and Trump endorsement. Schlossberg said, "Never been less surprised in my life. Been saying it for over a year — RFKjr is for sale, works for Trump. Bedfellows and loving it. Kamala Harris is for the people — the easiest decision of all time just got easier."