Under the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S. Secret Service has removed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s protection after the 2024 independent candidate suspended his independent campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump on Friday.
On Sunday, Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, told The Daily Caller, “Mr. Kennedy is no longer a protectee of the US Secret Service.” A representative for the Secret Service also confirmed the removal of Kennedy’s Secret Service protection in a statement to The New York Post, saying, “That’s correct. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is no longer receiving US Secret Service protection.”
According to The New York Post, President Joe Biden agreed to provide Kennedy with Secret Service protection after the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The outlet reported that Kennedy had privately asked and publicly called for the Biden-Harris administration to provide him with Secret Service protection throughout his independent campaign, especially since his uncle, former President John Kennedy, and his father, former Attorney General Robert Kennedy, were killed by assassins.
Newsweek reported that at one point during the independent candidate’s presidential campaign, Kennedy’s legal team claimed it had evidence of at least 34 threats against him.
Following the assassination attempt against Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced, “In light of this weekend’s events, the president has directed me to work with the Secret Service to provide protection to Robert Kennedy, Jr.”
READ MORE: Video: RFK Jr. drops out of 2024 race, endorses Trump
According to The New York Post, the Secret Service provides protection for the president, vice president, immediate family members of the president and vice president, former presidents, top presidential candidates, world leaders during visits to the U.S., former first ladies, and children of former presidents until the age of 16. The outlet reported that it is standard practice for the agency to either reduce protection or terminate protection of presidential candidates when they drop out of elections.
On Friday, Kennedy announced that he was “suspending” his 2024 presidential campaign and endorsing Trump. However, the independent candidate clarified that he was “not terminating” his campaign and that while he was removing his name from the ballot in roughly 10 battleground states, his name would remain on ballots in less competitive states.
Following his major campaign announcement on Friday, Kennedy joined Trump at an Arizona rally and urged the American people to elect the former president to another term in the White House.
In a Sunday post on X, formerly Twitter, Kennedy tweeted, “This is only the beginning. Wait till you see the next additions to President Trump’s Unity Government.”
