Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Friday he is continuing his 2024 campaign despite rumors he was considering suspending his bid and endorsing GOP rival Donald Trump.
“I’m in it to win it. I lead in popularity and independents are now the largest voting bloc. Momentum is shifting in my favor as I close in on ballot access in all 50 states,” Kennedy wrote on X.
“I look forward to challenging President Trump and the DNC nominee at the next debate,” he added.
RFK Jr. was responding to chair of Students for Trump Ryan Fournier who wrote, “BREAKING: RFK Jr canceled multiple campaign events, and is to drop out and potentially endorse Donald J. Trump.”
Fournier wrote in a separate post that he was referring to an apparently un-sourced Politico article that claimed Kennedy had cancelled campaign events.
The independent candidate and Trump had a phone call earlier in July in which the two discussed Kennedy having a position in the Trump administration, the Washington Post reported.
The position would be health-related, according to the outlet.
But according to Kennedy, he’s pushing through with his campaign. He did not qualify for the last presidential debate against Trump and President Biden partly due to him not being on enough state ballots.
A second presidential debate is in flux after Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement on Sunday. Trump said Thursday he would not finalize details of another debate until the Democratic National Committee votes in the official nominee.
Polls show that Kennedy has dropped slightly in national five-way matchups since late June, when Trump and Biden had their debate in Atlanta.
He’s now averaging at 6.9%, according to RealClearPolitics.
In the latest New York Times/ Sienna College poll conducted after Biden dropped out of the race, Kennedy is polling at 5%.
Kennedy’s campaign is attempting to get on every state ballot. His campaign website claims his team is either in progress of petitioning or has completed the petitioning progress in all 50 states.