Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening suggested he is open to giving independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a position in his administration in return for an endorsement in the 2024 race.
Earlier this week, Kennedy’s running mate Nicole Shanahan told a podcast that the campaign faces a number of hurdles and presented two options: one is that they might drop out of the race and “join forces” with Trump and the other is creating their own political party.
“You’re asking me a very unusual question. I haven’t been asked that question yet,” the former president said, smiling when asked further questions. “I like him. I respect him a lot. I probably would if something like that would happen. He’s a very different kind of a guy—a very smart guy. And, yeah, I would be honored by that endorsement, certainly.”
The reporter then asked whether there would be a Republican backlash against Trump if he appointed Kennedy to a position in his administration. He downplayed those comments, saying, “I like smart people, and Republicans like me.”
Kennedy, the son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, is “a brilliant guy. He’s a very smart guy,” Trump added. “I’ve known him for a very long time. I didn’t know he was thinking about getting out, but if he is thinking about getting out, certainly I’d be open to it.”
In an appearance on Tom Bilyeu’s Impact Theory podcast that was published Tuesday, Shanahan made allusions to backing Trump.
“There’s two options that we’re looking at, and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and [Tim] Walz presidency because we draw more votes from Trump,” she said. “Or we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump and explain to our base why we’re making this decision.”
Kennedy’s team has never been in talks with Harris, said Shanahan, an entrepreneur and attorney.
“I really wanted a fair shot at this election, and I believed in the America I as a little girl pledged allegiance to, and that is not where we are today,” she told the podcast, adding that the Kennedy campaign is facing challenges including legal threats, shadow-banning from social media platforms, and being kept off debate stages.
She then posed a hypothetical question: “Do we trust Trump and his personal sincerity to really do the right thing for our country, end chronic disease, balance the budget, end these forever wars? Is he somebody that’s going to continue to invite people like Bobby and I into the conversation, or is he going to fall victim again to things that he fell victim to in his first administration?”
Kennedy initially sought to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination but switched to run as an independent. Biden later dropped out and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who will accept the nomination at the party’s convention this week.
Kennedy, 70, faces an uphill battle qualifying for the presidential ballot in many states, but he could siphon enough votes away in the tight race between Harris and Trump to have an outsized impact.
“These are: reversing the chronic disease epidemic, ending the war machine, cleaning corporate influence out of government and toxic pollution out of the environment, protecting freedom of speech, and ending politicization of enforcement agencies,” he wrote.
