FX168 Financial News Agency (Asia Pacific) reported that RFK Jr. released a bombshell before the weekend, announcing that he would suspend his presidential campaign and withdraw from the election in key states. As a political leader who has long supported Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, he stated that he would turn to support former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Trump and Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris's winning rate flashed a 50%-50% "stalemate".
Watcher.Guru reported that Kennedy Jr. said that Trump had asked to "recruit" him to join the Trump administration, which was proposed after the two had communicated for weeks. It is reported that Trump and Kennedy Jr. recently held a meeting in Florida.
"In a series of long and intense discussions, I was surprised to find that we agreed on many key issues. In these meetings, he suggested that we unite and become a united party," Kennedy Jr. said at a press conference in Phoenix on Friday.
Kennedy did not specify what role he might play in a Trump administration.
Describing his decision, Kennedy Jr. added: "I want everyone to know that I am not terminating my campaign. I am pausing it, not ending it. My name will remain on the ballot in most states. If you live in a blue state, you can vote for me and it will not hurt or help President Trump or Vice President Harris. The same is true in red states."
According to data from Polymarket, a large cryptocurrency betting platform, Trump and Harris' chances of winning in November are in a 50%-50% "stalemate", showing that the crypto market no longer seems to be completely leaning towards Trump.
Source: Polymarket
Kennedy Jr. is 100% in favor of cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, and actively opposes central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
Trump has similar views, and the two are expected to promote Bitcoin heavily during the remainder of Trump's campaign.
Shortly after Kennedy Jr. made his statement, the price of Bitcoin rose.
Members of the Kennedy family, who had previously publicly opposed the independent candidate's campaign, also reacted to the news, saying that Kennedy Jr.'s support for Trump "betrayed our father and the values that our family holds most dear."
"This is a sad end to a sad story," the five Kennedys wrote in a joint statement.
Looking back, Kennedy Jr.'s running mate Nicole Shanahan said in an interview last week that the campaign was weighing the decision, after which speculation that Kennedy would withdraw began to emerge.
Shanahan said at the time: "We are considering two options, one is to stay and form a new party, but we face the risk of Harris and Waltz being elected president, or we leave now and join forces with Trump."
Apparently, the Kennedy team chose the latter and turned to support Trump.
Trump called Kennedy "brilliant" and "very smart," a sharp reversal from his comments in April, when he called Kennedy "far more liberal than anyone running as a Democrat" and worried that Kennedy's independent candidacy could cost him votes in the general election.
In response to Kennedy's suspension, the Harris campaign offered a new option to voters who are "tired of Trump and looking for a new way out." "To help working people and those who feel abandoned, we need a leader who will not only fight for himself, but for you, who will bring us together, not divide us," campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon said in a statement.
"Vice President Harris hopes to win your support."