Kennedy Jr likely to end campaign, may endorse Trump: Report

Washington DC [US], August 23 : Independent presidential candidate, Robert F Kennedy Jr is expected to suspend his campaign on Friday at an event in Arizona, CNN reported citing two sources familiar with the plans.
Kennedy is also in talks with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's team, for an independent candidate to endorse the former president and appear at Trump's Phoenix-area rally.
Kennedy's campaign announced earlier Wednesday that he would make a speech in Phoenix, on Friday morning. The speech on Friday will be the Kennedy campaign's first public event since early July.
This will come days after his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said in a podcast interview that the campaign is considering whether to "join forces" with Trump to prevent the "risk" of Vice President Kamala Harris winning the election, CNN reported.
The Republican nominee on Tuesday expressed openness to Kennedy playing a role in a future administration should he drop out and offer his endorsement.
"He's a brilliant guy. He's a very smart guy. I've known him for a very long time," Trump told CNN. "I didn't know he was thinking about getting out, but if he is thinking about getting out, certainly I'd be open to it."
Discussions between Trump allies and advisors and Kennedy's team began in the lead-up to the Republican National Convention in July, prior to a leaked phone call between the former president and Kennedy that same month, CNN reported citing a source familiar with the conversations.
Notably, Kennedy and Trump have grown warmer towards each other in recent months after initial attacks earlier in the campaign.
A prominent vaccine sceptic, Kennedy has frequently criticized Trump for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and his implementation of Operation Warp Speed, the program to accelerate the manufacturing of Covid vaccines. Trump previously labelled Kennedy a member of the "radical left" and attacked Kennedy for his environmental activism.
But in July, Trump and Kennedy had a call, days after Trump was shot in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The day after the call, Kennedy and Trump met in person in Milwaukee on the first day of the Republican National Convention.
Kennedy has struggled to gain traction since Harris took over the top of the Democratic ticket. A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted earlier this month found Harris at 47 per cent support, Trump at 44 per cent and Kennedy at 5 per cent.
The campaign is also quickly burning through funds as it seeks to gain ballot access across the country. Campaign finance reports from July show Kennedy's campaign held just USD 3.9 million on hand while reporting nearly USD 3.5 million in outstanding debts.
The independent campaign has led to concerns among both Democrats and Republicans about Kennedy's potential impact on the presidential race, where narrow margins in a handful of battleground states could determine the winner.
Though it remains unclear whether Kennedy has attracted more support from voters who backed President Joe Biden or Trump in 2020, the Kennedy campaign has said in recent days they believe they draw more support from voters who have previously backed Trump.