Newsmax has offered surprisingly balanced coverage of Robert Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign adventures and shifting loyalties throughout the various phases of his campaign. An Aug. 15 article by James Morley III previewed the final phase of it:
In a long-winded rebuke of the modern Democratic Party, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he has “no plans to endorse” Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Kennedy had reached out via intermediaries to Harris’ campaign seeking a potential Cabinet post if Harris wins the presidency. Democratic National Committee spokesman Matt Corridoni told The Hill on Thursday, “No one has any intention of negotiating with a MAGA-funded fringe candidate who has sought out a job with Donald Trump in exchange for an endorsement.”
Kennedy fired back with a lengthy X post that began by attacking the modern Democratic Party as being “unrecognizable” to the one of his father, former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and uncle, former President John F. Kennedy.
Morley didn’t mention how it’s more likely that Kennedy is the one who has drifted from Democratic Party values. Meanwhile, an Aug. 20 article by Theodore Bunker showed the direction Kennedy would ultimately go:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might suspend his independent presidential campaign and endorse former President Donald Trump, Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said in an interview Tuesday, CNBC reported.
Shanahan, an attorney and entrepreneur, said in an interview with the podcast “Impact Theory” that the campaign is considering whether to “join forces” with the Trump campaign or stay in the race and attempt to gain more than 5% of the popular vote in the general election, which may help to “establish ourselves” as a third party.
Another article that day by Mark Swanson, however, suggested the real agenda happening: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign entered August with just $3.9 million in the bank after spending more than it raised in July, Politico reported Tuesday. Further, Kennedy’s campaign owes $3.5 million, according to Politico.” And an Aug. 21 article by Solange Reyner showed the incentive being dangled before him: “Trump Would ‘Probably’ Give RFK Jr. Role If Endorsed.” Meanwhile, an Aug. 22 article by Reyner touted how “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary would likely dismantle the 13 agencies HHS oversees and rebuild them with like-minded people and stop the National Institutes of Health from studying infectious diseases and instead study chronic disease,” as if that was a good thing.
When Kennedy finally made that leap to Trump — which would also seem to contradict that he was ever a loyal Democrat — Newsmax first announced it with a wire article. After that, an article by Michael Katz touted a joint rally appearance (which aired on Newsmax, natch):
Donald Trump appeared at an Arizona rally with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday night, just hours after Kennedy ended his independent presidential bid and endorsed the Republican nominee.
“We’re welcoming the support from millions of disaffected Democrats, independents, moderates, old-fashioned liberals who still believe in things like little things like borders,” Trump said in a speech which aired live on Newsmax and simulcast on the Newsmax2 online streaming platform. “Gone forever is the old Democratic Party of FDR, JFK. And that’s right, even Bill Clinton.
“To all who supported Bobby’s campaign, I very simply ask you to join us in building this coalition. It’s a beautiful coalition in defense of liberty and safety, prosperity, and peace. It’s going to be an incredible coalition, and the relationship has been so good for so long. I have no doubt it’s going to work and work well, but we have to win. We have to take our country away from these people that are going to destroy our country.”
[…]Kennedy, who was greeted by thunderous applause, said he and Trump have talked not on the things that divided them but on the things that binded them, such as having safe food and ending the chronic disease epidemic.
Kennedy’s speechifying got its own article by Swanson:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. crucified the Democratic Party during a speech on Friday to announce that he’s ending his independent presidential campaign and endorsing Republican nominee Donald Trump.
In the speech in Phoenix, Arizona, carried by Newsmax, Kennedy accused Democrats of “dismantling” Democracy “in the name of saving Democracy.”
[…]“When it abandoned democracy by canceling the primary to conceal the cognitive decline of the sitting president, I left the party to run as an independent. In the name of saving democracy, the Democratic Party set itself to dismantling it,” Kennedy asserted.
Neither Katz nor Swanson mentioned that a few weeks earlier, his employer published an article noting that Kennedy had been caught calling Trump a terrible human being and a sociopath. An article by Morley, however, admitted that “The family of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken to social media to publicly shame their brother following his endorsement of former President Donald Trump.”
Still, Newsmax was pretty much on board, as suggested by an article that day by Kate McCanus claiming that “CNN dropped its live coverage Friday night of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as he was taking the Democratic National Committee to task for the way it went about selecting Vice President Kamala Harris as their nominee.” McManus offered no proof the two were related.
This was followed by an Aug. 25 article by Sandy Fitzgerald documenting Kennedy’s whining:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Sunday blamed “16 months of censorship” for his decision to suspend his presidential race and endorse former President Donald Trump’s reelection bid.
“It became clear to me that I did not have a path to victory,” Kennedy told “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream while arguing that the lack of interviews with major networks led his campaign to fail to gain ground.
“When Ross Perot ran, in the 10 months that he ran, he had 34 appearances on the networks,” said Kennedy. “I had two appearances in 16 months, so I was blocked out of the networks, and I was blocked out of the debate. I had no path to victory.”
Meanwhile, Kennedy said Trump had been “reaching out” to his campaign and that they had spoken “just a few hours” after the assassination attempt against the former president in July.
“He invited me to form a unity government,” Kennedy said. “We agreed that we’d be able to continue to criticize each other on the issues where we don’t agree, but these issues are so important, and they’re a way of unifying the country.”
Those issues, he said, include ending the Ukraine war, promoting children’s health, and ending the Ukraine war.
Yes, that repeat appeared in the original. Another article that day by Katz noted:
Donald Trump’s campaign on Friday welcomed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to drop his independent presidential bid and endorse Trump as good news for the Republican nominee.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign sought to reach out to disaffected voters who might have been part of Kennedy’s coalition.
A few articles in the following days focused on related side issues:
- RFK Jr. Withdraws Presidential Bid in Arizona
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., West Approved for Ballot in Wisconsin
- RFK Jr. Might Remain on Some Swing State Ballots
- RFK Jr. Appeals Ruling That Knocked Him off New York’s Ballot
- Secret Service Drops Protection for RFK Jr.
- Trump Adds RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard to Transition Team
An Aug. 30 column by Larry Bell effectively showed that Trump and Kennedy aren’t that far apart on major issues, further discrediting any claim he might still be making to be a pure Democrat.