Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma praised Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was running as an independent candidate for the We The People Party, after he suspended his campaign and announced his endorsement for Republican nominee Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
Kyle Kuzma listened to the perspective of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as he suspended his campaign, endorsed Donald Trump
Kuzma, 29, has expressed conservative views on X in recent weeks. On July 22, he wrote, “All these threats to democracy have me thinking why one party didn’t let their party vote for a nominee.” Then on Wednesday night, he wrote, “DNC [Democratic National Convention] just wanted caps and laugh lol sick world man.”
As a response to Kennedy Jr. walking out on stage at Trump’s rally in Phoenix on Friday, Kuzma posted, “This would have made more sense as a running mate than JD Vance… cause I get incredible strange vibes from him lol.”
Kennedy Jr., 70, then gave his speech at his event.
Damn. Interesting to hear this from someone with a lifelong perspective & family heritage! https://t.co/CwzYxrc2v7
— kuz (@kylekuzma) August 24, 2024
“These are the principal causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to throw my support to President Trump,” Kennedy Jr. said.
“… What most alarms me isn’t how the Democratic Party conducts its internal affairs, or runs it candidates. What alarms me is the resort to censorship and media control, and the weaponization of the federal agencies.
“When a U.S. President colludes with or outright coerces media companies to censor political speech, it is an attack on our most sacred right of free expression, and that’s the very right upon which all of our other constitutional rights rest.”
Kennedy Jr. dropped out for reasons such as free speech, the war in Ukraine, and “a war on our children”
According to the Associated Press, Robert Kennedy Jr. cited free speech, the war in Ukraine, and “a war on our children” as among the reasons he would try to remove his name from the ballot in swing states.
After Kennedy Jr. delivered his speech, Kyle Kuzma tweeted, “Damn. Interesting to hear this from someone with a lifelong perspective & family heritage!”
Kennedy Jr. said his actions followed conversations with Trump over the past few weeks. He cast their alliance as “a unity party,” an arrangement that would “allow us to disagree publicly and privately and seriously.”
This would have made more sense as a running mate than JD Vance… cause i get incredible strange vibes from him lol https://t.co/PUWGrnXPnm
— kuz (@kylekuzma) August 24, 2024
Additionally, Kennedy Jr. suggested Trump offered him a job if he returns to the White House. However, neither he nor Trump offered details, per the AP.
Kennedy Jr. spoke for nearly 20 minutes before he said explicitly that he was endorsing Trump. His full speech can be viewed here.
Kyle Kuzma received support and backlash from fans at the same time for his political posts on X.
In 70 games (all starts) with the Wizards last season, he averaged career highs of 22.2 points and 4.2 assists per game, along with 6.6 rebounds while shooting 46.3% from the field, 33.6% from 3-point range, and a career-best 77.5% at the free throw line.
