Earlier this month, independent presidential candidate and noted vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke to rival Donald Trump about potentially endorsing the former Republican president — and even taking a public health job in a new Trump administration.
As first reported by The Washington PostTalks between Kennedy and Trump began just hours after the failed assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, the paper said, citing “four people familiar with the matter.”
A call between the two men appears to have been captured on video, which circulated online shortly after being recorded last week.
In the clip, which was shared on social media by Kennedy’s son, Trump can be heard repeating baseless claims about vaccines and telling Kennedy that he would “love” for him to “do things” — apparently a reference to the possibility of working together in the White House.
The conversations included a discussion of positions Kennedy could fill in a new Trump administration (potentially Cabinet and other jobs for which the Senate does not need to confirm appointees), as well as a scenario in which Kennedy drops out of the race and endorses Trump, the four people told The Post.
According to the paper, there was no agreement in the talks between the two men, as those close to Trump expressed concern about offering him a job in the administration in exchange for an endorsement, the sources said.
Some advisers also raised questions about whether Kennedy would be the right choice for the job, given his anti-vaccine stance, said the people who spoke to The Post.
Kennedy apparently confirmed the talks to the paper on Monday, saying: “All I’ll tell you is that I’m willing to talk to anybody from any political party who wants to talk about children’s health and how to end the epidemic of chronic disease.”
He noted that Trump has been more receptive to him than the Democratic Party.
“I have a lot of respect for President Trump for reaching out to me,” Kennedy said. “No one from the DNC, high or low, has reached out to me in 18 months. Instead, they have spent millions to try to disrupt my campaign.”
Kennedy said he plans to continue seeking the presidency, adding: “We’re here to win.”
Kennedy and Trump first spoke by phone the night Trump was injured in the shooting at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the two agreed to meet in person last week in Milwaukee as the Republican National Convention got underway, the Post reported.
As rumors swirled about the fate of his campaign after last week’s meeting, Kennedy clarified in a post in X that “national unity” was the “main topic” of their discussion.
“President Trump met with RFK and discussed these issues as he regularly does with senior figures in business and politics, because they all recognize that he will be the next president of the United States,” said Danielle Alvarez, a Trump spokeswoman.
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