(Reuters) – Impartial U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is contemplating ending his marketing campaign to affix forces with Republican rival Donald Trump, Kennedy’s operating mate mentioned in an interview posted on-line on Tuesday.
The vice presidential candidate, Nicole Shanahan, mentioned that as independents she and Kennedy ran the chance of drawing assist from would-be Trump voters and clearing the best way for Democrats Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to win the November election.
“Or we stroll away proper now and be part of forces with Donald Trump,” she instructed Los Angeles media firm Influence Principle. Requested once they would decide, she didn’t say.
In a separate assertion on X on Tuesday, Kennedy wrote: “As at all times, I’m prepared to speak with leaders of any political social gathering to additional the objectives I’ve served for 40 years in my profession and on this marketing campaign.”
Kennedy, the son of the late Democratic politician Robert F. Kennedy, is an environmental advocate who has unfold misinformation on vaccines and whose household has denounced his marketing campaign.
He initially sought to problem U.S. President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination however switched to run as an unbiased. Biden later dropped out and endorsed Harris, who will settle for the nomination on the social gathering’s conference this week.
Kennedy, 70, faces an uphill battle qualifying for the presidential poll in lots of states, however he might siphon sufficient votes away within the tight race between Harris and Trump to have an outsized impression.
Kennedy’s assist stood at 4% in an Ipsos ballot taken this month.
Trump has sought Kennedy’s assist, a telephone name leaked in July confirmed. Shanahan within the interview launched on Tuesday mentioned Trump had taken an curiosity of their healthcare insurance policies, making it value exploring “a unity social gathering.”
Kennedy’s crew has by no means been in talks with Harris, she added.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly and Susan Heavey; Enhancing by Howard Goller)
