The independent presidential candidate is currently in New York battling to get back on the ballot.
MINEOLA, N.Y.—While speculation mounts that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will drop out of the presidential race on Aug. 23 and back former President Donald Trump, the independent candidate told reporters outside of a Long Island courtroom on Aug. 21 that he will be on the ballot in New York and all 50 states.
Kennedy said he was scheduled to hold campaign events this week in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention.
Instead, his week has included appearing at hearings in Pennsylvania and New York as he continues to fight against Democratic National Committee-backed lawsuits to keep him off the ballot.
On Aug. 12, a New York judge ruled that Kennedy falsely claimed New York residency, a decision that removed him from the state’s general election ballot.
Kennedy appealed the ruling and appeared at the Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola, New York, for testimony in that case.
The plaintiffs want Justice Robert G. Bogle to direct the State Board of Elections to keep Kennedy off the New York general election ballot.
While Kennedy spent the afternoon on Aug. 21 in a courtroom, his team released a statement that he will make a “campaign announcement” in Phoenix on Aug. 23.
Indications are that he will end his independent presidential bid and endorse Trump or form a new party, according to recent comments made by his running mate, Nicole Shanahan.
Kennedy told reporters in New York that he would not “confirm or deny” the speculation and reiterated his belief that he will be on the ballot.
“I thought it went really well,” he told reporters after the New York court proceeding ended for the day on Aug. 22.
“I shouldn’t be here right now. The DNC is in Chicago talking about their commitment to voting rights, while they’re spending tens, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars to keep me off the ballot,” he said.
“There’s a million people in this country who have signed petitions trying to get me on the ballot. 145,000 at least people here in New York State. They want to see me on the ballot.”
It has been an eventful week for Kennedy and his campaign.
First, an evidentiary hearing took place on Aug. 20 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Filed by voters Alexander Reber and Janneken Smucker, and supported by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the legal action in Pennsylvania alleges that Kennedy used an inaccurate home address on his nominating petitions and did not submit enough signatures.
Kennedy arrived at the hearing an hour and 40 minutes after it started, citing a canceled flight from Boston to Philadelphia, where the proceeding was originally scheduled to take place before it was moved to Harrisburg.
Commonwealth Court Judge Lori Dumas decided to proceed without him as a witness and did not allow him to testify when he appeared.
Minutes after Kennedy arrived, Dumas adjourned the hearing and did not say when she would rule.
Before he climbed into a black Suburban surrounded by Secret Service agents, Kennedy said, “I’ll be on the ballot.”
When asked whether he would continue running if he doesn’t appear on the ballot in every state, Kennedy repeated, “I’ll be on the ballot.”
The same day that Kennedy was in a Pennsylvania courtroom, his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said in an interview with the Impact Theory podcast that because of the barrage of DNC-backed lawsuits to keep Kennedy off the ballot, the campaign is considering either forming a new party or dropping out of the race and joining forces with Trump for “unity.”
The campaign has not received fair treatment from the Democratic Party, Shanahan said. That has led the campaign to consider the option of forming a third party or leaving the race and backing President Trump, she added.
“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 said.
Shanahan, an entrepreneur and attorney, told the podcast host that the “tens of millions of dollars” she put into her campaign wasn’t intended to make Kennedy a “spoiler” in the 2024 race.
“We wanted to win. We wanted a fair shot,” she said.
Shanahan said that challenges such as being shadow-banned on social media platforms, being kept off stages, and facing legal actions greatly diminish the chances that a third-party candidate such as Kennedy can win.
She provided insight into potential options.
“One is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and [Tim] Walz presidency because we draw votes from Trump. We draw, somehow, more votes from Trump,” she said.
“Or we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump, and we walk away from that and we explain to our base why we are making this decision. Not an easy decision.”
In the interview, Shanahan said that she believes that Trump “has taken genuine, sincere interest in [the Kennedy campaign’s] policies around chronic disease; he takes it seriously.”
“The question we have to ask ourselves right now is, one, 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?” she said.
“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?”
When asked by CNN about Shanahan’s comments, Trump said that he would “love” a Kennedy endorsement.
“I like him,” the former president said. “I respect him a lot. I probably would if something like that would happen. He’s a very different kind of guy—a very smart guy. And, yeah, I would be honored by that endorsement, certainly.”
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 April 2023, Kennedy announced his candidacy to challenge President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
After encountering multiple roadblocks from the DNC and claiming that the organization was “rigging the primary” to favor Biden and prevent other candidates from competing, Kennedy chose to run as an independent in October 2023.
Earlier this year, the DNC announced the creation of a team to counter third-party and independent presidential candidates.
It hired a veteran Democrat strategist to spearhead an aggressive communication plan to combat Kennedy, Independent Cornel West, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
Democrats have expressed concern that Kennedy’s presence on the ballot will benefit Trump.
The New York case and the Pennsylvania filing allege that Kennedy should be removed from the state general election ballot because he claims to live in New York when he resides in California.
Kennedy included a New York address on his nominating petitions because his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, lives in California, the filing reads.
Electoral College electors cannot vote for president and vice president candidates who both live in the same state as the electors, according to the 12th Amendment.
In a statement, the Kennedy campaign said that state Democrat parties and Clear Choice Action have challenged the candidate in 15 states.
Kennedy has prevailed in eight states, and the only ruling against the candidate was Judge Christina Ryba’s decision in New York, the campaign said.
The remaining challenges have yet to be decided.
Earlier this month, the Democratic Party in Maine withdrew its challenge to Kennedy’s using his New York address on petitions in the state, “acknowledging it was the proper address to use,” Paul Rossi, senior counsel for the Kennedy campaign, said in a statement.
On May 28, the Kennedy campaign filed nomination petitions with the New York State Board of Elections that included about 145,000 signatures, which a campaign spokesperson noted is three times the requirement of 45,000.
His campaign stated that last month, the New York State Board of Elections determined that Kennedy had submitted 108,680 valid signatures—more than double the 45,000 required.
In addition to the appeal of Ryba’s ruling, Kennedy’s legal team said it plans to pursue injunctive relief in federal court in New York City, arguing that the U.S. Constitution’s 12th Amendment determines the residency of presidential and vice presidential candidates, not state law.
On Aug. 22 in Mineola, New York, Kennedy testified in his appeal of Ryba’s decision.
Earlier in the day, Kennedy said: “We’re going to win in New York state one way or another. We will be on the ballot in New York state.”
The trial in Mineola continued on Aug. 22. Kennedy will then travel to Phoenix, where he is set to make the aforementioned campaign announcement on Aug. 23.
Trump also has an event scheduled in the Phoenix area that day.
Shanahan said on Aug. 21, “I think Friday will be one of the biggest events in American election history.”
Amaryllis Kennedy, the candidate’s campaign manager and daughter-in-law, posted on social media platform X about the Aug. 23 announcement.
“If you trust Bobby to be your president—to make life-and-death decisions affecting your family, behind closed doors, with the nuclear football mere inches away—then I ask you to muster that trust in his judgment today, in this moment, right now,” she wrote.
“Bobby has never backed down from the right fight. He has never compromised his defense of human freedom for his own ego, comfort, or gain. I can promise you that he will not start now.
“Be still, have faith, and wait to hear from him directly. All has not been said. And Friday is not far away.”