LEFT: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File) RIGHT: Donald Trump (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
After Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke on the phone during the Republican National Convention, rumors swirled for days that the independent candidate was set to end his campaign and endorse the former Republican president.
Kennedy put an end to those rumors in a series of posts to social media. “FAKE NEWS,” the political scion posted on Friday in response to speculation he would be backing Trump.
Sources with knowledge of the meeting between the two candidates and the aftermath, who spoke with Mediaite on condition of anonymity in order to reveal details of the private conversations, explained how over the course of several days talks between the two parties fell apart.
Trump first requested to meet with Kennedy in the hours after he was shot by a would-be assassin at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
The former president wanted an endorsement from Kennedy, who he thought was eating into his base of support. Kennedy drew 8% of the vote in the first Reuters/Ipsos
In their meeting on July 15, Trump attempted to persuade Kennedy to endorse his campaign, and cited polling. Kennedy refused. Instead, Trump and Kennedy came to an agreement that they would make an announcement together about unity at the RNC, in the wake of the harrowing assassination attempt.
“Trump was trying to get an endorsement from Kennedy,” a source familiar with the meeting said. “Kennedy was not super keen on dropping out of the race to endorse Trump.”
Trump’s team then requested that Kennedy draft a “Unity Government Proposal” which would outline what they planned to work on together, including vaccines and “government corruption.” They requested that the pledge also outline what role Kennedy would like should Trump become president again.
Kennedys campaign sent the pledge, but they never received a response.
The document, the source explained, acknowledged “there were many issues that Trump and [Kennedy] did not agree upon but the unity pledge was important for the nation, especially after the assassination attempt.” In addition, the pledge “outlined a role for Kennedy leading HHS.”
“Kennedy was not going to endorse Trump, but agreed to drafting a Unity Government Pledge requested by the Trump team,” the source said. “Trump wanted something fairly desperately to make people think Kennedy was in support of him, but in lieu of not giving him an endorsement he agreed to
“Kennedy was prepared to do this pledge with Trump at the RNC and then conversations halted,” they added.
It’s unclear why the Trump campaign went dark. The Washington Post reported earlier this week that Trump advisers had “concerns” that Kennedy, who is a fervent anti-vaccine activist, would be “appropriate in such a job and that such an agreement could be problematic” — yet a role for Kennedy in a Trump White House was not ruled out.
The Trump campaign did not respond to an immediate request for comment. When reached for comment, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, campaign director for the independent candidate, said in a statement: “Given Bobby’s longstanding commitment to a unity cabinet akin to Lincoln’s Team of Rivals, he welcomed former President Trump’s initial call after the dark hours of Saturday and the opportunity former President Trump presented to discuss areas where their platforms overlapped, including the chronic health crisis costing Americans billions of dollars and six years of life expectancy compared to other developed nations.”