Kennedy suspended his presidential campaign on Friday and endorsed former President Donald Trump. As with everything involving Kennedy, he made it more complicated than that — he played up that he was “suspending,” not “ending” his long-shot independent bid and urged people to still vote for him in safe red and blue states.

But Kennedy is urging his supporters in the states that will likely decide the Electoral College majority to vote for Trump and is taking his name off the ballot in the battleground states where it is still possible to do so. His endorsement could help Trump consolidate anti-establishment voters turned off by both major parties.

Both the timing of Kennedy’s announcement, the day after Vice President Kamala Harris accepted her party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention, and his messaging were meant to blunt the Democrats’ recent momentum.