This article makes a great read. Some notable quotes follow.

First the recap from the last week:

Robert F Kennedy Jr made the announcement to suspend his independent presidential campaign on Thursday. He soon appeared with Trump at a political rally in Arizona where he formally backed the former president, who clinched the Republican nomination despite his conviction on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records to conceal hush-money payments to adult film actor Stormy Daniels, among various other legal problems.

And this is particularly telling - in case anyone had any doubts. Emphasis in bold is mine:

Kennedy said he planned on removing his name from the 2024 presidential election ballot in swing states to boost Trump’s chances of retaking the Oval Office. But Kennedy said he would remain on the ballot in other states that are not expected to decide the presidential race.

The history:

Kennedy’s presidential bid and subsequent endorsement of Trump has drawn sharp criticism from the rest of his family. And, before its suspension, his campaign was replete with controversies, including a sexual assault allegation made against him by a former staffer and the proliferation of numerous conspiracy theories over vaccine safety, Covid 19, wireless internet, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and antidepressants.

The article closes with junior’s brother, Max, quoted as saying:

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be motivated to write something of this nature. With a heavy heart, I am today asking my fellow Americans to do what will honor our father the most: Ignore Bobby and support vice-president Kamala Harris and the Democratic platform. It’s what is best for our country.”

  • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Honestly the Trump endorsement doesn’t bother me. Fringe thinker endorses other fringe thinker. The real jaw-dropping psycho move was dumping the dead bear in Central Park like he was a mob informant just caught talking to the grand jury. That’s the real WTF moment until the next revelation.

    • Snapz@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      The trump endorsement would bother any decent person. You’re not bothered though…

      • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        It’s actually meaningless. Why be bothered by it? I could be bothered if I was part of the Kennedy clan, but I’m not.

        • Snapz@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          He’s actively working to turn the election on a technicality and both are quietly funded to this end by the grandson heir to the mellon fortune.

          Imagine meaningless to you from one or more of a likely privileged position wealth, bodily/healthcare autonomy or ability to be yourself and love who you love, or you’re outside the US. Regardless, you’re pov here is lazy, it’s stale and it’s selfish.

          Register to vote, get others to do the same, and quit disassociating so that you don’t have to personally feel guilt for not doing more. Yes it sucks, yes it’s exhausting, but you’re overindexing for your own benefit at the expense of everyone else.

          • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Nate Silver: “Before explaining the methodological change in detail, let me show you the impact on our national polling average. Both Trump and Kamala Harris have gained ground versus yesterday’s model run, the last one to include Kennedy. Harris’s polling average has improved from 48.0 percent yesterday to 48.8 percent today (+0.8), while Trump’s has increased from 43.7 to 44.8 (+1.1).”

            “First, yes, Trump has gained slightly more than Harris from the change, although it’s pretty minor, a net gain of 0.3 percentage points. And second, we’re seeing the beginnings of a convention bounce for Harris. Even with the Kennedy change, She’s now ahead by 4.0 points in the national polling average versus 2.3 points when the DNC started.”

            “Our best guess is that her lead will increase further, especially given that almost none of the polling was done after her strong acceptance speech on Thursday.”

            There is no monster behind the door.

            • APassenger@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              I won’t relax until November. Maybe even January.

              Polls, votes… What matters is who’s in office and if they have legitimacy. Winning in a national poll feels good. The swing states are the ones that matter and the dumbass is very willing to try everything to swing it to Trump.

              • MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                I won’t relax until November. Maybe even January.

                Definitely January for me. It’s pretty clear that they want to throw this to the house. The GOP isn’t trying to win the popular vote OR the electoral college vote this time.

                • Asafum@feddit.nl
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                  3 months ago

                  This is my second biggest fear about this election…

                  The first is that he just straight up wins and doesn’t even need this bullshit…

                  It really does feel like no matter what they win this time though. They either win outright, they take it by the house, or the SCOTUS hands it to them.

              • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                Sorry about the anxiety. It’s not good you, I hope you know, I am also sorry that I can’t offer anything to help. Hang in. It’s only a couple of months.

    • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      He still wants to try to split the Democratic vote where he can, I guess, though that makes zero sense to me, considering his endorsement of Trump

    • Zombie-Mantis@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Our only solace is that this might give Kamala just the slightest more of an edge in Texas. She’s already expected to narrow the gap from ~5% in 2020 down to 2-3% this year, with a fraction of the campaign dollars spent. Here’s hoping she can manage blue-Texas 🤞