Democratic Party - Democratic National Committee

07/22/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/22/2024 13:22

ICYMI: RFK Jr. Floated a Job in a Trump White House as He Weighed Endorsing Trump Arrow

Today, new reporting from the Washington Post confirms that RFK Jr. met with Donald Trump to discuss endorsing his campaign in exchange for a position in a Trump administration.

In response, DNC Spokesperson Matt Corridoni released the following statement:

"RFK Jr. was recruited to run by MAGA Republicans, he's being propped up by Trump's largest donor, and his own staff has said their goal is to hurt Democrats this election cycle. It's no surprise that RFK Jr. was looking to exchange an endorsement for a job in a Trump Administration. That RFK Jr. was engaging in the same backroom political deals that he claims to despise shows that he knows his spoiler candidacy isn't going to land him in the White House."

This new reporting follows reports that RFK Jr. and Donald Trump met together at the RNC in Milwaukee last week after RFK Jr. canceled all of his campaign events. The meeting was allegedly brokered by Tucker Carlson, who later had dinner with RFK Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy III- in a now deleted post- shared a video of his father and Trump speaking on Sunday. The video shows RFK Jr. agreeing with the former president saying: "We're gonna win."

In an interview with Axios' Mike Allen at the Republican National Convention last week, Donald Trump Jr. said that he'd "love" to see RFK Jr. endorse his father, and that "maybe there's a great place for him somewhere in an administration." Eric Trump also wasn't shy about discussing the Trump campaign formally joining forces with RFK Jr.

RFK Jr.'s allies did nothing to defuse suspicions of him working with the Trumps. In fact, they encouraged it. In an interview with Focus Today, Tony Lyons, co-founder of RFK Jr.'s Super PAC, admitted RFK Jr. would take a cabinet position in a second Trump administration.

ICYMI: Washington Post: RFK Jr. floated a job in a Trump White House as he weighed endorsing Trump

By: Josh Dawsey and Michael Scherer

  • Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. held talks this month with former president Donald Trump about endorsing his campaign and taking a job in a second Trump administration, overseeing a portfolio of health and medical issues, according to four people familiar with the matter.
  • Kennedy and Trump agreed to meet in person in Milwaukee early last week during the Republican National Convention. Trump has been intrigued by Kennedy even as he publicly criticized him, the people familiar with the matter said.
  • Their discussions included possible jobs that Kennedy could be given in a second Trump administration, either at the Cabinet level or posts that do not require Senate confirmation. The discussion also included Kennedy potentially leaving the race and endorsing Trump, the people said.
  • Two of these people did not rule out the campaign eventually wanting Kennedy in the fold or potentially giving him a job in the administration if Trump wins.
  • Trump has repeatedly asked campaign advisers, guests at his Mar-a-Lago Club and others if Kennedy would help Biden or him in the presidential contest. He also posed the question for months if he should pick Kennedy as his vice president. "Trump-Kennedy," he would say, has a nice ring to it.
  • Later during last week's call, Trump encouraged Kennedy to "do something," though it is not clear from the excerpt what they are specifically discussing.
  • "I would love you to do something," Trump said. "And I think it would be so good for you. And so big for you. And we're going to win. We're going to win. We're way ahead of the guy."