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Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast.

I'm Sarah McCammon, I cover the campaign. I'm Stephen Fowler. I also cover the campaign and I'm

Domenical Munson, our senior political editor and correspondent. And it's 336 Eastern time on Friday, August 23rd.

And we have some breaking news from the campaign trail.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

is suspending his campaign.

He said he's seeking to remove his name from ballots in

battleground states, here he is in a speech this afternoon in Arizona.

I've made the heart-wrenching decision to suspend my campaign and to support President Trump.

Stephen, I want to start with you. You've been following RFK Junior's candidacy.

His speech was really a diatribe against many things including conventional politics, the media, the Democratic Party, and you know interestingly he says he's not fully leaving the race so where exactly do things stand he says if you live in a

blue state you can vote for me if you live in a red state you can vote for me but I'm

going to try to take my name off of the ballot in. He said about 10 states where his presence and

people voting for him could be enough to throw that state from one candidate to the other.

In this case, he does not want to harm Donald Trump,

and he is telling his supporters to vote for Trump in those states.

Okay, and he had failed to find significant momentum in this race.

Aside from not harming Trump, what else did he say about his decision

to exit the race to the extent that he has?

...