UPDATE: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated he is suspending his campaign but not ending it, urging residents of blue states to vote for him but throwing his support behind former President Donald Trump in battleground states.

Democrat-turned-Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to endorse former President Donald Trump for president on Friday in Arizona, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Kennedy, the son of the late Democratic Party icon Robert F. Kennedy, built a career as an environmental lawyer. He has embraced unlikely causes throughout his life, gaining notoriety for questioning the efficacy of some vaccines.
He launched his campaign as an anti-establishment mission to shake Washington free from the grip of establishment elites. Unlike many Democrats, he did not demonize Trump or Trump supporters.

He ran as a Democrat at first, but left the party after he concluded that Democrats were arranging their primary to make it impossible for any insurgent campaign against President Joe Biden to succeed.

While he gained some traction as an independent — together with running mate Nicole Shanahan, a Silicon Valley attorney — he also found his path blocked by Democrats and Democratic Party-aligned groups that sued in several states to keep him off the ballot.

Democrats — ostensibly “defending democracy” — were concerned about losing votes to Kennedy, enabling Trump to win key swing states.

Kennedy is set to speak to reporters in Arizona early Friday afternoon, and is rumored to be joining Trump at a campaign event later in the state.