Independent US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Friday that he was suspending his campaign and endorsed Republican candidate Donald Trump, ending a bid that began in April 2023 with RFK as a Democrat hopeful.

Kennedy's candidacy initially gained momentum as voters expressed dissatisfaction with both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, leading Kennedy to pivot his campaign to an independent run. At one point, a Reuters/Ipsos poll in November 2023 showed him drawing 20% of the vote in a three-way race against Biden and Trump.

Despite his early success, Kennedy's campaign faced challenges in securing spots on state ballots as an independent. However, he managed to secure key positions in several competitive swing states, including Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, and North Carolina.

The political landscape shifted dramatically in recent months, with Trump surviving an assassination attempt and Biden stepping down in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris. These developments led to a decline in voter interest in Kennedy, with his support dropping to 4% nationally, according to an Ipsos poll conducted earlier in August.

Kennedy's campaign had signaled a potential change in strategy in recent days, culminating in his decision to endorse Trump. According to sources close to his campaign, Kennedy was hoping for a role in a potential Trump administration and sought to keep his political movement alive by staying on the ballot in certain states.

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Throughout his campaign, Kennedy portrayed himself as a political outsider, promising to repeal significant portions of Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, secure the US-Mexico border, and maintain strong support for the Israeli occupation in the midst of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

His campaign received substantial financial backing, including millions of dollars from Trump mega-donor Timothy Mellon and Kennedy's running mate, Nicole Shanahan.

RFK dropping out needed?

The decision by the independent to drop out of the election gives Trump a much-needed boost in light of the numbers favoring Harris. A recent Washington Post, ABC, and Ipsos poll found that Harris was supported by up to 50% of US voters, slightly ahead of Trump, who is supported by 45% of probable voters.

Harris leads Trump by 4 percentage points among those who are already registered to vote and 53% of respondents thought Harris is better qualified to be president, while 47% said Trump is.

The poll, conducted before Kennedy withdrew, found that if additional candidates were on the ballot, which is not the case in every state, 47% would vote for Harris and 44% for Trump. In this instance, independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. would earn 5% of the vote, while the Green Party's Jill Stein would obtain 1%.

The vice president is faced with two possible routes to emerge victoriously in the November elections, according to The Post's polling model, indicating that Harris can secure votes in either the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, and the Sun Belt States of Georgie, Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina. Meanwhile, Trump would need to win in both the Rust Belt and Sun Belt states re-assume a second term in office.