Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly offered to endorse former President Donald Trump in exchange for a role in his administration.
The discussions about an endorsement deal are said to have begun "hours" after the assassination attempt on the former president.
According to a report from the Washington Post, which cited four unnamed sources, Trump's advisors were concerned that promising a job in exchange for an endorsement could cause problems — leading to the offer being rejected.
The report states that a person who knows both Trump and Kennedy connected them in a group text on Saturday night. The two candidates then spoke on the phone and agreed to meet during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The Post reports: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 the prospect of Kennedy leaving the race and endorsing Trump, the people said.
The discussions surprised Trump and his aides. But there were concerns among some Trump advisers that Kennedy — a fervent critic of vaccines — would not be appropriate in such a job and that such an agreement could be problematic, 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.
Nothing was decided during the discussions.
“All I will say to you is I am willing to talk to anybody from either political party who wants to talk about children’s health and how to end the chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy told the Post on Monday.
Kennedy Jr. added that Trump has been much more open to him than the Democratic National Committee.
“I have a lot of respect for President Trump for reaching out to me. Nobody from the DNC, high or low, has ever reached out to me in 18 months. Instead, they have allocated millions to try to disrupt my campaign.”
The independent presidential candidate added that he is not dropping out and is "in it to win it."
Danielle Alvarez, a Trump spokeswoman, told the Post, “President Trump met with RFK and they had a conversation about the issues just as he does regularly with important figures in business and politics because they all recognize he will be the next president of the United States.”
