RFK Jr.: 'God sent me Donald Trump'
For Robert F. Kennedy Jr., endorsing and ultimately joining his one-time political opponent, former President Donald Trump, was nothing less than divine intervention.
Speaking at a stop on the Tucker Carlson Live tour in Glendale, Arizona, Kennedy shared a powerful personal testimony of what he described as a committed prayer life in which he asked God to provide an opportunity for him to make an impact on children’s health.
“Since 2005, I spent 30 minutes praying every day when I get out of bed,” the 70-year-old Kennedy told the crowd, which erupted into extended applause.
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Kennedy continued, “For 19 years, I asked God to put me in a position where I could end the chronic disease epidemic and bring health back to our children, and in August, God sent me Donald Trump.”
In August, Kennedy announced he would pause his campaign efforts while simultaneously endorsing Trump. He said that he would remain on the ballot in non-competitive states because he didn't want to inadvertently assist Democratic candidates.
“I want to ensure that my supporters have a voice,” he said, underscoring his commitment to maintaining his presence in the electoral race.
Kennedy, the son of the late U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, has publicly shared his Catholic faith tradition in the past, including in an interview with the Catholic News Agency (CNA) in which he said Catholicism was “the centerpiece of our lives” when he was a child.
“We said the rosary at least once a day, oftentimes three times a day,” he told the outlet in April. “We prayed before and after every meal. We read the Bible every night. We read the lives of the saints. We went to church, sometimes twice a day. In the summers, we would go to the 7 o’clock Mass and the 8 o’clock Mass. It was our whole family, and it was really our whole community. It was part of me growing up.”
However, at age 15, following his father’s assassination, Kennedy found himself grappling with his faith. “During that period of time, I wouldn’t say I lost my faith, but when you’re living against conscience, which you have to do if you’re addicted to drugs, you push God out over the periphery of your horizon,” he explained.
“So the concept of God was, although it never was erased from me, it was just a distant concept that was not part of my day-to-day life.”
Kennedy said his long-term struggles with addiction, which lasted until he was 28, profoundly impacted his relationship with spirituality, challenging the deep religious foundations of his youth.
He credits “a profound spiritual realignment” for his recovery in early adulthood, describing it as “the centerpiece of my life ever since.”
“I had a spiritual awakening very early in my recovery, which I was lucky about because I no longer had to struggle with the compulsion to take drugs,” he told CNA. “That was lifted away from me. But you can’t live off the laurels of a spiritual awakening. You have to renew it every day, and you renew it through service to other people.”
If elected, Trump has already publicly pledged to have Kennedy serve in his administration in some capacity. Earlier this week, Kennedy told his supporters Trump had “promised” him a role overseeing public health agencies, a claim that was publicly refuted by transition team co-chair Howard Lutnick.
At a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Trump addressed how he sees Kennedy contributing to a potential Trump White House.
“I’m gonna let him go wild on health. I’m gonna let him go wild on the food. I’m gonna let him go wild on medicines,” he said Sunday.
