Trump asks for RFK Jr.'s endorsement in show of weakness

Donald Trump placed a phone call to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and then met with him in Milwaukee in an apparent attempt to get Kennedy to drop his third-party presidential bid and endorse Trump at the Republican National Convention. A video of the call has now leaked online.

In the video, Trump appeals to the infamously anti-vaccine Kennedy by expressing skepticism about vaccines and claiming that he has seen infants “radically change” after being vaccinated. Then Trump calls on Kennedy to do something “big.” Trump reportedly followed up with a meeting in which he sought Kennedy’s endorsement. 

The biggest takeaway is that, no matter what pundits are saying about how Trump’s victory is all but certain, he still thinks he needs more help to win in November. Selecting Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate was a play to Trump’s MAGA base. Getting Kennedy to endorse him may be the closest Trump can come to anything resembling national unity.