The 2024 presidential election has shown us one thing: expect the unexpected. Few anticipated Joe Biden would pursue a second term, but he did. Many doubted he’d debate Donald Trump, yet he took the stage — and was a total disaster. In another unprecedented move, Biden succumbed to pressure and blackmail and dropped out of the race mere days ago.
This is certainly not the year to be making predictions because so far, it has been the most unconventional election ever.
A new report from ABC News suggests another potential twist in the 2024 presidential election: an alliance between Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
According to multiple sources who spoke with ABC News, Trump and Kennedy have had several discussions over the past few days, including an in-person meeting in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention. During these talks, the two presidential candidates reportedly discussed potential roles for Kennedy in a future Trump administration.
Two sources familiar with the discussions say that Kennedy could potentially be offered the opportunity to oversee the Health and Human Services Department in a second Trump administration.
According to one source, the in-person meeting, which took place the Monday of the convention, never reached a point where Trump and Kennedy had a deal in place for Kennedy to exit the race and endorse the former president in exchange for a role in the administration. Rather, it was an "informal," "free flowing" conversation, the source said.
The two men initially spoke by phone on the evening Trump survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally, one source told ABC News, adding that they agreed on that phone call to meet in Milwaukee the next week.
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Two people familiar with Kennedy's thinking told ABC News that the agreement to meet with Trump stemmed from Kennedy's desire for national unity.
According to one of the sources, Kennedy has tried to connect with Democratic leaders regularly for roughly a year to try to discuss ways to "bring the party back to its roots," but has not succeeded in having those conversations.
Kennedy initially launched a bid for the presidency as a Democrat. However, he switched to an independent run back in October after Democrats rigged the primaries for Joe Biden.
Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy’s running mate, confirmed to ABC News that she knew about Kennedy’s recent discussions with Trump and expressed her support for them.
"I was aware of it and support American unity and health. We are willing to speak with anyone on unwinding the corporate capture of our agencies," she said.
No deal has been set but if it were to happen, it could be a major boost for Trump. Kennedy pulls in roughly 9% in national match-up polling. While it is generally believed that he draws support mostly from Joe Biden, some Republicans have been attracted to Kennedy's candidacy. If Kennedy drops out to endorse Trump, it feeds well into the post-assassination calls for unity.
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Still, I'm skeptical. RFK's biggest appeal to conservative voters is his position on the COVID vaccines. He's spoken out against them fervently, while Trump considers their prompt development and implementation a major success of his presidency.
Still, if these discussions are, in fact, taking place, it is huge, potentially game-changing news.
And let's face it: stranger things have happened.
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