Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will address the country on Aug. 23 amid mounting speculation that the candidate will drop out.
On Aug. 21, the principal campaign committee, Team Kennedy, announced that Kennedy would speak to the nation live on Aug. 23 about the “present historical moment and his path forward.”
The announcement of the address was made a day after his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said the campaign is considering dropping out and endorsing former President Donald Trump.
According to a statement, Kennedy will speak at an as-yet-unannounced location in Phoenix at 2 p.m. Eastern time. The event will be live-streamed on social media platform X and other social channels.
In an interview with the podcast Impact Theory published on Aug. 20, Shanahan said the independent campaign has not gotten a fair chance at winning the election. Now, she said, Kennedy is considering either forming a new party or joining forces with Trump.
On Aug. 21, rumors swirled on social media that Kennedy would withdraw from the race after the Democratic National Committee concluded on Aug. 22.
Sources close to Kennedy and representatives of the campaign declined to share further details about the Aug. 23 announcement with The Epoch Times.
External signs show that the Kennedy campaign is facing severe financial difficulties and trouble gaining traction in public opinion polling.
According to public disclosure documents filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the principal campaign committee, Team Kennedy, said it raised about $5.6 million while spending about $7.3 million in July. Entering August, the committee reported holding about $3.5 million in debts against about $3.9 million in cash on hand.
Its allied hybrid political action committee (PAC), American Values 2024, told the FEC that it received less than $90,000 in donations in July while using about $1.7 million. However, American Values started August with $14.4 million in cash on hand.
National Polling
The latest poll conducted and published by The Economist and YouGov on Aug. 21 shows Kennedy winning only 3 percent of likely voters’ support. By comparison, Democratic Party candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump have 46 percent and 43 percent support, respectively.
In her podcast appearance, Shanahan specifically mentioned that the issue the campaign faces is that it draws more votes away from Trump than from Harris, running “the risk of a Kamala Harris and [Tim] Walz presidency.”
For months, Democratic partisans have called Kennedy a spoiler, running only to pull votes away from their party’s candidates. Kennedy and Shanahan have denied that the independent candidate is running as a spoiler.
However, Kennedy and Trump share an important financial backer in Timothy Mellon. Both the key allies of the campaigns, American Values and Trump-aligned super PAC Make America Great Again Inc., received millions of dollars in donations from the heir to the Mellon family fortune between 2023 and 2024. On Aug. 20, MAGA Inc. disclosed it received another $50 million check from Mellon on July 15.
In July, video footage of a phone conversation between Trump and Kennedy leaked. During the conversation, Trump was heard telling Kennedy he would “love you to do something,” potentially referring to an endorsement.
Trump has also said that he would welcome an endorsement from Kennedy. On Aug. 20, he told CNN he liked and respected Kennedy and implied that he would be willing to find a place for Kennedy in a second Trump administration.
In an appearance on Fox News that Shanahan shared on social media on Aug. 21, Kennedy’s running mate spoke about the importance of a “unity party.” However, she was noncommittal about joining the Trump campaign.
Trump also plans to be in the Phoenix area on Aug. 23. He is expected to speak at an event in Glendale, Arizona, at 6 p.m. Eastern Time.
From The Epoch Times