After a long fight against forces working against him through the Democratic Party and mainstream media, third-party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has decided to step out of the race and throw his support behind Donald Trump, with whom he has found mutual agreement on key political issues.

On Friday afternoon, Kennedy held a press conference where he confirmed rumors circulating that he would drop out and support Trump. He explained that his continued candidacy would likely result in a ‘spoiler’ in key battleground states, like North Carolina, meaning he could alter the outcome of the election despite no chance of winning.

“Many months ago, I promised the American people that I would withdraw from the race if I became a spoiler,” Kennedy said. “In my heart, I no longer believe that I have a realistic path to electoral victory in the face of this relentless, systematic censorship and media control. So I cannot, in good conscience, ask my staff and volunteers to keep working their long hours, or ask my donors to keep giving, when I cannot honestly tell them that I have a real path to the White House.”

Kennedy pointed to polling that shows by staying on the ballot in the battleground states, he would likely hand the election over to the Democrats, with whom he said he disagrees on the most existential issues.

“In about 10 battleground states where my presence would be a spoiler, I’m going to remove my name, and I’ve already started that process and urge voters not to vote for me,” he added.

His name will remain on the ballot in less competitive states where he has gained ballot access.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections said the We the People Party, which nominated Kennedy, has not informed the State Board of any plans to change its nomination. A spokesperson at the Board of Elections said if paperwork is officially filed to remove Kennedy from the ballot, the State Board would have to consider whether it is practical to remove his name from ballots and reprint ballots at that time. As of Friday afternoon, nearly 30 of 100 counties had started printing ballots in North Carolina.

Kennedy and Trump began having long discussions immediately following the assassination attempt at a Trump rally. Though Kennedy admitted he was a ‘ferocious’ critic of many of Trump’s policies during his first administration, some of which they continue to disagree on, there are many that they are aligned on, like ending the Ukraine war, tackling the chronic disease epidemic, protecting free speech, and removing corporate influence out of the government.

“I was surprised to discover that we are aligned on many key issues. In those meetings, he suggested that we join forces as a Unity Party,” Kennedy said. “We are aligned with each other on other key issues, like ending the Forever wars and ending the childhood disease epidemic, securing the border, protecting freedom of speech, unraveling the corporate capture of our regulatory agencies, getting the US intelligence agencies out of the business of propagandizing and censoring and surveilling Americans and interfering with our elections.”

Kennedy noted that he tried unsuccessfully to open similar discussions with Vice President Kamala Harris, who declined to even meet or speak with him.

The decision could have significant implications for North Carolina. While it was originally thought that he would pull more votes from the Democratic nominee due to the family name, recent polls have shown the opposite, explained Andy Jackson, Director of the Civitas Center for Public Integrity at the John Locke Foundation.

“Recent polls often showed him pulling more votes from Trump than from Harris,” Jackson said. “So, his dropping out of the race and endorsing Trump will likely give the former president a small boost in the polls as most (but certainly not all) Kennedy supporters migrate to Trump. It may be worth one or two percentage points for Trump.”

In a recent Carolina Journal poll, Kennedy pulled 3.6% of North Carolina voters.

Jackson noted that the major announcement gives the Trump campaign some momentum as Kamala Harris has received positive press this week at the Democratic National Convention.

Trump will take the stage in Phoneix, Arizona, for a rally Friday evening with a special guest, presumably his newest, high-profile supporter.