Ho hum. He has announced that he is suspending his campaign, and endorsing Trump. Don’t care. Go away. You’ve got no reputation left, RFK Jr.
The family has spoken.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
The anti-vax to wingnut pipeline has spewed more shit into politics, I see. Definitely not surprised.
All I can think is, wow, what a waste of a priceless birthright. Born in to one of most privileged families imaginable and guaranteed an elite education, the guy could have gone into any number of respectable roles or perhaps even again reached the heights his family formerly achieved. Instead he became a crank and wound up yet another obsequious subject to Trump, who will no doubt toss him out like a dirty sock once he’s extracted whatever tiny bit of usefulness RFK is good for.
It would have been better if he had stayed in the race. He was only ever going to draw a small percentage of the vote, but almost all of it would have come out of the Trump base, not the Dems. Likely he was offered a position in a Trump administration in return for withdrawing and throwing his support to Trump. Which would not have happened if the GOP apparatchiks didn’t think it would be to their benefit.
I hope it wasn’t to be the head of NIH, the CDC, or Tony Fauci’s old department in NIH, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
As an antivaxxer, this would be RFK Jr.’s dream job.
Cthulhu knows how many lives that would cost us.
chrislawson @3
“Likely he was offered a position in a Trump administration in return for withdrawing and throwing his support to Trump.”
I can't find the link at the moment, but there was a news story on either August 15 or 16 about RFK Jr. telling Kamala Harris that he would drop out and endorse her in exchange for a job in her administration, a week after he made the same offer to Trump. Like Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie, JFK Jr. will be learning the value of a Trump promise, but I can't feel sympathy for a professional liar falling victim to another professional liar. https://is.gd/lMreF4
Besides, if Trump gets in, the views of JFK Jr. will be the least of America's problems.
I don’t know how representative the RFK Jr For President subreddit was, though there was a hell of a lot of denial about the news he was going to quit his campaign, but it doesn’t seem there’s much of an appetite for voting for Trump among them. Most seem to want to keep voting for RFK where he will still be on the ballot, and either writing in his name, or voting Green or Libertarian instead, in places he’s not.
Hilariously, some are falling an offer from Trump voters in blue states where they will vote for RFK in exchange for RFK fans voting for Trump in swing states to help them reach the 5% threshold to qualify for public funding in the next election, as though their “movement” has any legs at all.
I don’t see Trump getting a significant boost from this. There’s definitely some PUMA-style hate for the DNC, but unless RFK becomes a major part of Trump’s campaign (and can you imagine Trump allowing that?) there isn’t much love for Trump either.
@HidariMak
Yeah, I saw references to RFK being rebuffed after approaching the Harris campaign to discuss a deal too.
RFK fans are feeling betrayed because he promised he was building a movement and wouldn’t be like other politicians. He was also still asking for money after the rumors of him dropping out had been pretty much confirmed, and put out a statement announcing today’s press conference claiming it would change politics forever (or something like that). They were anticipating a bluff — that he wasn’t going to drop out but double-down with some kind of unprecedented move that would sweep him to victory. Totally delusional.
RFK just did what every politician does — parlay what’s left of his declining political influence in this election campaign for personal gain and influence, e.g. a cushy job in Trump’s administration. I didn’t see the speech, but apparently he kept saying Trump would keep his word. What a joke.
@tacitus #7:
Given all that he stands for, their plight leaves me quite unmoved.
Both Trump and Putin practice clientelism. Neither treats their clients well in the long term, because it’s purely transactional. If they see a better opportunity, existing clients will be thrown under the bus.
Fine, fine. But what about the worm? It was always the brains behind the operation.
The brainworm in his head had told him that he’d be the new Ralph Nader, but then it turns out that splitting the left doesn’t work when you are such an open right-wing moron.
And I mean, it’s clear that he only ever ran with that goal in mind.
RFK Jr. is now officially a failed has been. Hopefully the MSM will now ignore him and not bother us with his existence any more.
R.F.K. Jr. is a Democratic plant trying to infiltrate Trump’s inner sanctum.
Spread the word.
He will worm his way somehow giving him access to the orange menace inner working and disrupt them from there.
RFK said that he is suspending his campaign, not completely quitting. He made the point that he is leaving his name on the ballot in blue states, and asked that people in blue states still vote for him.
What’s he trying to do? Pull votes from Harris, while not pulling votes from Trump.
Associated press:
Link to Daily Kos presentation of Associated Press coverage
Not certain the RFK circus is over. He traded his few voters for a position in Trump’s government (should he win). RFK could be that bad penny that keeps coming back.
Hmm, the expected DNC bump in the polls should take care of any RFK bump in Trump’s polls.
I am most concerned about Pennsylvania, wake me up if something alsrming happens with Pennsylvania polls otherwise I would prefer to ignore anyrhing involving Trump.
The latest from Real Clear Politics. In Pennsylvania Trump leads by +0.2%. Basically even. Just before Biden dropped out, Trump lead Biden 4.5% So Harris erased Trump’s lead in Pennsylvania. The Hill has Harris up +0.9% in 28 polls. 538 has Harris up +1.8%.Still tight, but Harris is doing much better than Biden was. The next big thing to watch for is September 18 when Trump is scheduled to be sentenced for his 34 felonies. Then September 19, Talk Like A Pirate Day.
There’s a certain irony, in the brainworm candidate who claimed to have staged a dead bear with an abandoned bike in Central Park, backing the party whose new slogan appears to be “we’re not weird”. RFK Jr. may not be as damaging to Trump’s campaign as Vance has been, but I certainly don’t see it helping him.
Felon welcomes endorsement by brainworm.
cheerfulcharlie@18,
There’s the “debate” on the 10th of September.
RFKJ is not a has-been, he’s a never-was.
Harris refused to take his call, for which she rises further in my estimation.