Inside RFK Jr.'s rollercoaster 16-month campaign... from a dead bear and a brain worm to dog eating claims
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his presidential campaign on Friday
- The campaign was one of the most bizarre and colorful in American history
- READ MORE: Kennedy suspends campaign and backs Trump - with a twist
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. bowed out of the 2024 race Friday, snuffing out one of the most bizarre and colorful campaigns in modern history.
The son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy launched his quixotic bid as a Democrat challenging President Joe Biden in Boston in April 2023.
When the prominent anti-vaxxer was unable to pick up traction within his family's political party, he declared an independent run in October outside of Philadelphia's Independence Hall.
As Kennedy campaigned, he was trailed by curious anecdotes from his past - that a brain worm had embedded itself into his head, that he might have eaten dog in South Korea - which he says was goat in Patagonia - that he disposed of a dead bear cub in Central Park.
He plucked his vice presidential candidate Nicole Shanahan from the pages of the tabloids - as the ex-wife of billionaire Google co-founder Sergey Brin who reportedly had a marriage-ending tryst with Elon Musk - something both she and Musk deny.
Robert F. Kennedy kicked off his 16-month presidential run from Boston, Massachusetts. He first ran as a Democrat, challenging President Joe Biden
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. poses with family members, and wife Cheryl Hines (right) as he announced his 2024 presidential bid in Boston in April 2023
The New Yorker published a picture of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., then 60, and the bear cub that he later deposited in Central Park in 2014. 'Maybe that's where I got my brain worm,' the candidate joked to a New Yorker reporter
Kennedy's 16-month foray into presidential politics ended in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday - a day after Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic nomination at a convention attended by some of RFK Jr.'s family members.
He announced he was pulling his name off 10 swing state ballots and encouraged supporters to back former President Donald Trump. In traditional red or blue states, he told supporters to go ahead and still vote for him.
'I would like everyone to know that I am not terminating my campaign, I am simply suspending it and not ending it,' Kennedy explained. 'My name will remain on the ballot in most states.'
When he launched his campaign, he said he was doing so to 'heal the divide.'
'During this campaign and during my administration my objective will be to make as many Americans as possible forget that they are Republicans or Democrats and remember that they are Americans,' he said from a podium in Boston, his wife, Curb Your Enthusiasm actress Cheryl Hines, by his side.
But Kennedy's well-documented anti-vaccine sentiment and penchant for latching onto conspiracy theories - and the fact that the Democrats already had a sitting president in the White House - hampered the candidate's ability to make inroads in the family's party.
So six months after he launched his campaign - he did so again.
Speaking on the grounds outside of Philadelphia's Independence Hall, Kennedy proclaimed that he was now running as an independent.
'It's very painful for me to let go of the party of my uncles, my father, my grandfather and both of my great-grandfathers,' RFK Jr. said.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (left) and his wife, actress Cheryl Hines (right) wave to supporters after he relaunched his presidential campaign in October as an independent bid
Supporters of RFK Jr. hold up signs in front of Philadelphia's Indepndence Hall, where he declared he was leaving the Democratic Party and launching an independent presidential run in October
What this move meant, is that Kennedy could play 'spoiler' in the election if he was able to get his name on the ballot in enough states.
Four prominent members of his family - siblings Rory, Kerry, Joseph P. Kennedy II and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend - immediately condemned the move, calling it 'dangerous' and 'deeply saddening,' as they realized their brother could swing the election to former President Donald Trump.
Kennedy's campaign manager, former Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich - who ran for president in 2004 and 2008 - left the campaign in days following the announcment of the independent bid.
The candidate put his daughter-in-law, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, a former CIA agent, in charge after that.
In order for Kennedy to appear on some states' ballots, he needed to name a running mate earlier in the campaign cycle than the Democrats and Republicans.
So by early 2024, the search for a VP had already kicked off.
Kennedy courted a number of individuals known for ideas outside the box.
In late March, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (center right) announced that he had selected Bay Area lawyer Nicole Shanahan (center left) to be his running mate. They walked onstage with Kennedy's wife Cheryl Hines (right) and Shanahan's husband Jacob Strumwasser (left)
He looked at fellow vaccine skeptic New York Jets player Aaron Rodgers, life coach Tony Robbins, Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura.
Two former Democratic presidential hopefuls - Andrew Yang and ex-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard - were also reportedly considered as was libertarian-leaning Republican Sen. Rand Paul.
But RFK Jr. settled on Shanahan, who had donated $4 million of her fortune to the Kennedy-aligned super PAC American Values 2024 to fund a Super Bowl ad.
The ad, a reformatted version of one JFK ran in the 1960 election, infuriated members of the Kennedy clan.
With Shanahan officially on the ticket starting in late March - after a roll-out in her hometown of Oakland, California - the campaign continued its work at getting on every state's general election ballot.
They were met with lawsuits and problems.
And then as spring turned to summer, a number of eye-popping stories came out about the independent hopeful.
In early May, The New York Times reported that Kennedy had put in his divorce documents that a dead parasite had been discovered in his head, which had diminished his earning power.
With that, 'brain worm,' had entered the political vernacular.
It inspired numerous memes and a Saturday Night Live skit.
Vanity Fair published a story that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent out this picture to a friend that showed him pretending to gobble down a barbecued dog in Korea. Kennedy said it was a goat in Patagonia after the story came out last month
Kennedy didn't clear the hurdles to get on the presidential debate stage in late June alongside Trump and Biden - a debate that would alter the 2024 race dramatically.
Instead, in the days following the Atlanta showdown, Kennedy had to respond to a Vanity Fair piece that pushed he had eaten dog.
The aghast candidate said a grisly picture of him pretending to eat off an animal corpse was taken in Patagonia and the animal was a goat.
As Biden bowed out of the race and Harris became the Democratic nominee, Kennedy announced that he had left a dead bear cub in Central Park ten years before.
The candidate tried to get in front of a negative New Yorker story, so in early August he posted a video where he told comedian Roseanne Barr about the dead bear.
Kennedy dug in telling reporters as he left court in New York, 'I've been picking up roadkill my whole life. I have a freezer full of it.'
As his campaign took on debt and sunk in the polls, Kennedy explored an exit strategy with both parties.
His son, Robert F. Kennedy III leaked a video of the candidate on the phone with Trump directly after the July 13 assassination attempt.
On the call, Trump is heard clearly courting Kennedy for an endorsement.
'I would love you to do stuff,' Trump said. 'And I think it would be so big for you.'
Kennedy had arrived in Milwaukee - the site of the July Republican National Convention - to do counter-programming, but instead just spent time at the gym, scrapping his campaign events as he conversed with those in the MAGA movement.
Three days after the RNC wrapped up, Biden made his dramatic decision that he was dropping out of the 2024 race, endorsing Harris as he exited the campaign.
The former Democrat made a play for a role in a future Harris administration as well, with The Washington Post reporting last week that RFK Jr. had reached out to people in the Democratic nominee's orbit to set up a meeting.
Kennedy was hoping he could serve in a Cabinet position in exchange for dropping out and endorsing Harris.
The Democrats publicly ridiculed this idea.
'No one has any intention of negotiating with a MAGA-funded fringe candidate who has sought out a job with Donald Trump in exchange for an endorsement,' Democratic National Committee spokesperson Matt Corridoni told DailyMail.com when the story broke.
Trump took the opposite approach, fawning over Kennedy in interviews.
'He's a brilliant guy. He's a very smart guy. I've known him for a very long time,' the GOP nominee said of Kennedy in an interview with CNN this week.
On Tuesday, Shanahan outlined that there were only two plausible paths ahead - stay in the race or leave and back Trump.
In the end, Kennedy did a combination of both.
