WAYWARD SON: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who bears the name of one of the most revered Democrats in American political history, yesterday abandoned his independent run for president and endorsed Republican Donald Trump.

  Kennedy appeared on stage in Phoenix with Trump amid a burst of fireworks both real and political. He later told a crowd in Glendale, Arizona “We talked not about the things that separated us — because we don’t agree on everything — but on the values and the issues that bind us together.” He asked, “Don’t you want a president that’s going to make America healthy again?”

  Kennedy’s extended family immediately issued a statement condemning his decision, calling it “a sad ending to a sad story.”

  Once polling at 20 percent among voters dissatisfied with the choice between Joe Biden and Trump, Kennedy’s prospects faded when Kamala Harris became the Democratic candidate. Kennedy is now behind a candidate who once called him a “Democrat plant” and a “radical left liberal.” Kennedy, in turn, had described Trump as a “frightened” man who sounded “unhinged.”

  But yesterday Trump described Kennedy as an “incredible champion” for American values, “highly respected” and a “great person.” Trump said that as a “tribute” to RFK, that if elected he would establish a commission on assassination attempts that would release all federal records related to the murder of President John F. Kennedy.

  Bobby Junior is famously opposed to vaccination but supports a woman’s right to choose abortion. Agreeing with Trump, he has called the situation at the southern border “a dystopian nightmare.”

  In recent polling Kennedy pulled voter support from Trump, not Kamala Harris. The coming days will reveal where those votes go.

BY THE NUMBERS: Kamala Harris leads Donald Trump by 1.5 percent in the Real Clear Politics average of polls. That’s within the margin for error.

  The Washington Post reports that Trump leads in four out of the seven battleground states; North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia.

  Harris leads in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

ECON 101: Stocks rose yesterday after federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted that interest rates might be lowered next month. “The time has come for policy to adjust,” Powell said in his keynote address at the Fed’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

  The Dow closed 462points The S&P 500 gained 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.5%. 

THE SPIN RACK: Representatives of Hamas have agreed to meet with a mediator in advance of cease-fire talks in Cairo. The fighting in Gaza rages on as diplomats try to end it. — At least three people were killed and eight injured in a knife attack last night at a festival in the western German city of Solingen. Investigators were still looking for the assailant this morning. — Five Secret Service agents have been placed on administrative leave following the attempt on Donald Trump’s life in Pennsylvania. — Climate change will make hail less common yet bigger and more damaging according to a new study published in the Nature journal Climate and Atmospheric Science. The theory is that warmer updrafts will suspend hailstones longer at altitude, allowing them to grow larger before they fall. — A 2,492-carat rough diamond, believed to be the second biggest ever found, has been unearthed in Botswana, according to a mining company. It’s bigger than a softball.

BELOW THE FOLD: Farmers in Iceland have been unable to keep up with the demand for cucumbers after social media influencers on TikTok began sharing a salad recipe of grated cucumbers, sesame oil, garlic, rice vinegar and chili oil. One TikToker nicknamed “the cucumber guy” has 5.5 million followers.

  We were trying to think of a joke about how this puts Iceland in a pickle but gave up.

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