BREAKING: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Says He's Endorsing Trump In Pennsylvania Court Filing Ahead Of Speech

On Friday, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. revealed that he would be endorsing 45th President Donald Trump in a Pennsylvania court filing that requested that he be removed from the ballot in the state. The news comes after Kennedy requested to be removed from the ballot in Arizona and just ahead of an upcoming speech in Pheonix, which his campaign has described as being "about the present historical moment and his path forward."

The court filing, submitted by Kennedy's lawyer, reads, "Respondents Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan as the We The People candidates for President and Vice President of the United States, as a result of today's endorsement of Donald Trump for the office of President of the United States hereby withdraw their opposition to the Petition of Alexander Reber and Janneken Smucker's. Accordingly, Respondents request dismissal of their nomination papers so that they do not appear on the Commonwealth's 2024 general election ballot."

According to The Associated Press, Kennedy's Pennsylvania filing is the latest indication that the independent candidate will be dropping out and endorsing Trump. Just hours after his speech in Phoenix at 2:45 PM EST, President Trump will be holding a rally just miles away in Glendale with a "special guest." While neither the Kennedy campaign nor the Trump campaign has confirmed that RFK will be joining Trump at the rally, the coincidental timing can't be ignored.

In a statement, the campaign explained that Trump will be joined "by a special guest as he delivers remarks about his America First policies and his vision to lower inflation and the cost of living, secure the border, and make our cities safe again."

Kennedy's speech comes as he has reportedly been in discussions with the Trump campaign over the past couple of weeks about his dropout from the race and his endorsement of the Republican candidate. Kennedy began discussing his exit from the race with Team Trump a week before the Republican National Convention after Kennedy donor Omeed Malik connected the two campaigns. Discussions between RFK Jr. and President Trump ramped up after President Joe Biden exited the presidential race a month ago. Following Harris' entry into the race, Kennedy saw his standing in the polls drop considerably. Despite attempts to meet with the Harris campaign, the Democratic candidate's team rejected any attempts for the two to meet.

Combined with the refusal to meet and the fact that Democrats have sued the Kennedy campaign across the country as he tries to get on the ballot, RFK Jr. has turned on the idea of backing Harris and has become increasingly more open to endorsing President Trump. "He just wanted to have a conversation. He was willing to sit down and talk, but he was rebuffed," a Kennedy campaign source explained. "We were supposed to be at the DNC talking about prison reform, and instead, he has to testify in a court case." 

"Democrats spent over $100 million [on lawsuits] to keep him off the ballot… these are anti-democratic people. That's the high-level motivation," the Team Kennedy source told The New York Post. "They've spent money to not only get him off the ballot but keep him tied up in court… it's politicization and weaponization of the court."

The Kennedy campaign source explained that President Trump had been respectful to Kennedy throughout their conversations and that Trump's public calls to get the independent candidate Secret Service protection were appreciated. A Kennedy endorsement of Trump could go a long way in shifting the race just enough to get Trump over the edge in several swing states. According to FiveThirtyEight, Kennedy has the support of 4.7 percent of the electorate nationally, which could be enough to help Trump get to 270 electoral votes in November.

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