A senior adviser to independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Wednesday that he was withdrawing from the campaign, citing a “growing atmosphere of rancor and discord,” a blow to a third-party bid that has been ramping up voting access efforts nationwide.
Angela Stanton King, the campaign’s black voter outreach director, said the Kennedy campaign “no longer aligns with my values.”
“After much consideration, I have decided to retire from the political arena,” Stanton King said. I have written “I will continue to advise RFK Jr. on issues important to our community.”
“Now is the time for me to devote all my efforts to pursuing peace and non-profit work supporting pregnant women and returnees,” she continued. “We’re excited about this new chapter as we focus on making a tangible difference where it’s needed most.”
Stanton King was a key adviser to Mr. Kennedy on the abortion issue, which is expected to be a major focus in November’s battleground states. Critics have repeatedly scrutinized Kennedy and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, for their conflicting statements on abortion rights.
Kennedy has previously argued that access to abortion care should not be subject to federal regulation. changed position Earlier this month, he announced he supported some restrictions at the request of Shanahan and Stanton King.
Shanahan said last month that he and Kennedy were “committed to identifying a solution that has the best interests of mothers and babies in mind.”
Stanton King often appears at Kennedy campaign events and personally introduced Shanahan at his first campaign event earlier this month.
Stanton King, a former supporter of former President Trump, was pardoned by Trump in 2020 after serving six months of house arrest for his role in a car theft scheme in 2007, and later became a Republican congressional candidate in Atlanta.
During that race, Stanton King hugged She advocated for the QAnon conspiracy theory and later falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen. Called for a military coup Her posts, which were aimed at ousting President Biden in early 2021, have since been deleted.
CBS News report On Wednesday, it was reported that Stanton King’s resignation was due to his support for Trump, a claim he strongly denied.
“Any reports that I was removed from the RFK campaign for any reason are 100 percent false,” she said. I have written in a social media post.
The Hill has reached out to the Kennedy campaign for comment.
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