ADDED MORE REMARKS FROM KENNEDY
By Rabia Iclal Turan
WASHINGTON (AA) - Independent US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy on Friday announced he is ending his long-shot campaign for the 2024 presidential race, pledging his support to Republican nominee Donald Trump.
"I throw my support behind Donald Trump," Kennedy said in an address to the nation from Phoenix, Arizona in the US Southwest.
"I no longer believe that I have a realistic path to electoral victory in the face of this relentless, systematic censorship and media control," he said.
"I cannot in good conscience ask my staff and volunteers to keep working their long hours or ask my donors to keep giving when I cannot honestly tell them that I have a real path to the White House," he added.
"My name will remain on the ballot in most states. If you live in a blue (Democratic-dominated) state, you can vote for me, without harming or helping (former) President Trump or (Democratic Party presidential nominee) Vice President Harris," he said.
Kennedy added that in around 10 battleground states he will remove his name from the ballot and urged voters not to vote for him,
Kennedy said three key issues led him to leave the Democratic Party and back President Trump: free speech, the war in Ukraine, and what he described as the "war on our children."
He criticized President Joe Biden's handling of the Russia-Ukraine war, claiming that Biden sent the UK's then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson to "tear up" a peace agreement with Russia in April 2022, shortly after Ukrainian and Russian delegations held peace talks in Istanbul.
He added that Biden's objective was regime change in Russia.
Friday’s announcement came after Kennedy's running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said Tuesday that she "fully supports" a role for Kennedy in a future Trump administration.
Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Glendale, Arizona on Friday, just 20 minutes from Phoenix, where Kennedy delivered his address.
Kennedy came from the famed political dynasty of the same name, but his family disowned his political campaign, disturbed by his fringe views such as opposing vaccination.
His campaign was plagued by odd personal stories from Kennedy himself, such as that a parasite had eaten a portion his brain and that he had left a dead bear in New York’s Central Park as a “prank.”
It is unclear if Kennedy’s supporters switching their allegiance to Trump will significantly affect the presidential election this Nov. 5.