By james art 
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspends campaign, endorses Donald Trump
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump on August 23, 2024.
MADISON – In a town hall-style event Tuesday night, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Democratic U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard tried to steer undecided voters to the Democratic stronghold of Wisconsin.
The two spoke at a Trump Unity event at the Alliant Energy Center, along with U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Senate candidate Eric Hovde, promoting former President Donald Trump’s campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Setema Galli, who played for the New England Patriots as a defensive end and is now a lecturer and coach, hosted the session with Gabbard and Kennedy.
Here’s what you need to know about visiting.
RFK Jr. is appealing the Supreme Court’s decision to keep it on the ballot
Kennedy, who suspended his independent presidential campaign and endorsed Trump, said Tuesday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that kept his name on the presidential ballots in Wisconsin and Michigan should be viewed as “election interference.”
“They want me on the ballot to trick people into voting for me instead of voting for President Trump, and what I’m telling you is, don’t fall for it,” he said. “I want, I don’t want your vote. I want you to vote for Donald Trump.”
Kennedy appealed to the US Supreme Court after the Wisconsin Supreme Court blocked his efforts to have his name removed from the ballot. Nearly 1 million votes have been returned to Wisconsin election clerks already under the state’s early voting rules.
RFK Jr. says the Democrats have abandoned him
Kennedy, who comes from one of the most prominent Democratic political families in the country, criticized the Democrats for being the party of the “establishment.”
“Today it is the party of division,” he said. “This is the party of censorship and surveillance.”
He said the Democrats were once the party of peace and ensure that everyone gets an equal vote in elections so that their voices are heard on issues that matter to them.
“Today, it is the party that ensures that we can only vote for the candidates of their choice,” he said. “I could go on and on, but, I’m no longer in the Democratic Party that I grew up with.”
Tulsi Gabbard justifies her switch to supporting Trump after running as a Democrat in 2020.
Gabbard asked the crowd how many of them were or still considered themselves Democrats, prompting several raised hands in the crowd. She then justified her switch to supporting Trump earlier this year after he ran for president as a Democrat in 2020.
“There’s an understanding that we’re not going to agree on everything. My husband and I don’t agree on everything,” she said of supporting Trump. “But the point is, we’re brought together and we stand together because we’re motivated by the most powerful force there is, and that’s love.”
She said the Republican Party is motivated by “the love of God, the love of our country and the love of one another as Americans.”
“This is our moment to have the courage to stand up and fight for what is right,” she said.
She also addressed the rally Trump held in New York on Sunday, which some likened to a neo-Nazi rally also held at Madison Square Garden decades ago.
“For those of us who were there, we really saw nothing but joy in that crowd,” he said. “And we saw people of every race.”
Gabbard, RFK Jr. try to sway undecided voters to Trump
Gabbard and Kennedy tried to prove to undecided voters that Trump was the right choice.
“We are only powerful if we use this power. Our voices will only be heard if we use them, if we exercise them, and so this is our no-nonsense mission to save our country,” Gabbard said. “To save the world, protect freedom, and get us back on this path to peace, freedom, and prosperity for all Americans.”
At the end of the event, Gabbard said she was told not to go to Madison, which is known as a dark blue town and overwhelmingly voted for President Joe Biden in 2020.
“We ignore them, of course,” she said to applause. “As we believe in the spirit of the American people, we believe in our appreciation for freedom, peace and prosperity.
Democrats say Trump campaigned with ‘conspiracy theorists’
In a statement, Christy Johnson, director of the Wisconsin Democratic Party’s coordinated rapid response campaign, emphasized that Wisconsin Republicans have announced plans to vote for Harris because of Trump’s rhetoric.
“While Trump campaigned with conspiracy theorists and focused on his ‘enemies list,’ Vice President Harris focused on his ‘to-do list’ to bring lower costs and more opportunities to Wisconsinites and their families” , she said. “That’s precisely why more and more Republicans — including Green Bay state Sen. Robert Cowles, Waukesha Mayor Sean Riley and former Dane state Sen. Barbara Lohrman — are recognizing the danger of a second Trump term and urging their fellow conservatives to vote for the vice president Kamala Harris.
Laura Schulte can be reached at [email protected] and at X at @SchulteLaura.