Robert Kennedy wants to address the nation on Friday. From Phoenix.

Guess who else will be in the Phoenix area on Friday night?

We'll get back to that in a moment. What could RFK have to say that requires a live statement to the nation on the morning after the Democrat's national convention? What could that be?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will make a speech in Phoenix on Friday, his campaign announced, as the independent presidential candidate considers whether to drop out of the race and endorse former President Donald Trump.

The campaign said Kennedy will “address the nation” Friday morning, without sharing details of what he will be speaking about. CNN has asked the campaign for additional information.

Just coincidentally, Donald Trump will stage a rally in Glendale, AZ that same night, as Colin Rugg pointed out on Twitter. Glendale is a suburb of Phoenix, not far away from my old Phoenix address in the early 1990s:

Here is the sign-up link for Trump's AZ rally this Friday.

If I were a betting man, I would bet RFK Jr. will be there. https://t.co/PrpUOD3ysT

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 21, 2024

We wrote yesterday about the deal-making taking place in part through public statements between Trump and Kennedy running mate Nicole Shanahan. Trump certainly has plenty of incentive to cut a deal with both candidates to gain their endorsement, especially after Democrats' own dramatic change in the race. As NBC News points out, Kennedy and Shanahan don't have much incentive to resist, and nearly no resources to continue either.

In fact, Friday's event is a recent rarity for the Kennedy-Shanahan campaign:

This comes as Kennedy's presence on the trail has been minimal in recent weeks. He has not hosted a public, campaign-sponsored event since early July, and Shanahan hasn't been seen on the trail in months. Meanwhile, Kennedy's standing in public polling has slipped, and his campaign's financial position has been getting worse, too.

It's been six weeks since RFK has done a public event, and even longer for Shanahan:

The last public event put on by Kennedy was in Freeport, Maine, on July 9. Kennedy has since spoken virtually and appeared at a cryptocurrency conference and events put on by others, but he hasn't been stumping on the campaign trail. (He did speak in person with reporters the day President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.) And it’s been months since his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, has had a public event on the campaign trail.

Kennedy’s public poll numbers are dropping, from around 9% or 10% in national surveys before Biden dropped out, to about half that level now. His last financial report showed the campaign carrying debt equal to more than half of the $5.6 million it had in the bank. On a media call last week, Kennedy said Democrats and Republicans colluded to make it “insurmountable” for an independent to get on the ballot in all 50 states — which he and his campaign had previously talked about as a matter of when, not if.

So yes, this is an unusual appearance in and of itself. The plan to deliver this statement in the same metro area that will host a Trump rally later in the evening could still be a coincidence, but ... does anyone really think that it is?

ABC News reported shortly after this news broke that Kennedy will announce his withdrawal, but that an endorsement of Trump is not yet finalized:

Robert Kennedy Jr. is planning to drop out of the presidential race by the end of this week, sources familiar with the decision tell ABC News.

Sources say Kennedy is leaning toward endorsing former President Donald Trump, though the sources cautioned the decision is not yet finalized and could still change, with one source adding Kennedy's hope is in part to finalize things quickly in order to try to blunt momentum from the DNC.

Well, maybe. But Kennedy lives in Washington DC, and Shanahan lives in California. Why would they choose Phoenix for this announcement after being off the campaign trail for the last six weeks, unless it's to coordinate with Trump and his campaign? A withdrawal announcement would be better suited to either the DC or NYC media markets rather than Phoenix ... unless RFK has a pressing reason to be in the Valley of the Sun. 

After yesterday's mutual lovefest, it's much more likely that Kennedy and Trump have cut a deal for both Kennedy and Shanahan to join the GOP campaign. And let's not be too surprised about it either, since Democrats have tried to push them off ballots in several states, which is about as strategically stupid as one could be. The Kennedy-Shanahan ticket probably drew more potential Trump voters than Harris voters anyway. It gave Kennedy and Shanahan every incentive to get even with Democrats and delivered minimal gains at best for the Democrat ticket, and Harris' refusal to meet with Kennedy after The Anointment was probably the last straw. 

Now Trump has a golden opportunity to step all over Harris' momentum and messaging coming out of the Chicago convention. Is that worth a Cabinet post and/or a couple of ambassadorships? Need we even ask?