Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his third-party presidential bid on Friday and endorsed former President Donald Trump in his campaign for the White House this November.

“Three great causes drove me to enter this race in the first place […] and these are the principle causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to throw my support to President Trump,” Kennedy said at a press conference announcing his decision.

In his remarks, the now-former independent presidential candidate blasted Democrats for their war on free speech and embrace of censorship. He took specific aim at America’s regime-approved media for partaking in what he described as a “systemic attack on democracy.”

“The media justif[y] their censorship on the grounds of combatting ‘misinformation,'” Kennedy said. “But governments and oppressors don’t censor lies. They don’t fear lies; they fear the truth, and that’s what they censor.”

Kennedy also criticized Democrats for subverting “democracy” by arbitrarily declaring Kamala Harris as the party’s 2024 presidential nominee without input from voters. Rather than “saving democracy,” the Democrat Party is “dismantling it,” he argued.

The Democrat Party machine “deployed DNC-aligned judges to throw me and other candidates off the ballot and to throw President Trump in jail,” Kennedy said. “It ran a sham primary that was rigged to prevent any serious challenge to President Biden. Then, when a predictably bungled debate performance precipitated the palace coup against President Biden, the same shadowy DNC operatives appointed his successor — also without an election.”

The independent further noted how, in making Harris their nominee, Democrats elevated someone “who was so unpopular with voters that she dropped out in 2020 without winning a single delegate.”

Trump reacted positively to Kennedy’s “very nice” endorsement while giving remarks in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s speculated that Kennedy is the “special guest” teased by the Trump campaign to appear at the Republican candidate’s Friday night rally in Arizona.

“I want to thank Bobby, that was very nice,” Trump said. “That’s big. He’s a great guy, respected by everybody.”

With polls showing a close race between Trump and Harris in numerous battleground states, Kennedy’s dropping off the ballot in swing states could make the difference in determining which candidate wins the White House this November.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood