The video that has been made available is incomplete, clearly beginning after the conversation is underway and cutting off before it ends. Throughout the video, Kennedy listens while Trump speaks, trying but failing to interject.

At first, Trump tries to secure Kennedy’s cooperation by appearing to agree with him on the use of vaccines.

Something’s wrong with that whole system. And it’s the doctors, you find. Remember I said I want to do small doses? Small doses. When you feed a baby, Bobby, a vaccination that is like 38 different vaccines, and it looks like it’s meant for a horse, not a, you know, 10-pound or 20-pound baby. It looks like you’re giving … you should be giving a horse this. And do you ever see the size of it, right? You know, it’s just massive. And then you see the baby all of a sudden starting to change radically. I’ve seen it too many times.

Trump moves on to trying to talk Kennedy into doing something—which may have been discussed earlier in the call, based on the way Trump describes it at this point.

Anyway, I would love you to do stuff. And I think it would be so good for you, and so big for you. And we’re going to win. We’re going to win. We’re way ahead of the guy.

After that, Trump discusses Biden calling him following Saturday’s assassination attempt, including a section in which Trump implies that he literally dodged a bullet by “moving to the right.”

Based on the in-person meeting reported by Politico, the objective of Trump’s call was likely to secure Kennedy’s endorsement. The GOP nominee met with Kennedy on the sidelines of the RNC in Milwaukee, where Trump reportedly wanted him to announce an endorsement of Trump. A Kennedy spokesperson said that he intends to remain in the race as a third-party candidate, but did not address any potential endorsement.

Trump’s selection of Vance as his running mate has already drained any suspense from the Republican National Convention. And by selecting Vance—a radical conservative and one of his most hardcore supporters—Trump has discarded anything that might have looked like an effort to reach across the lines, even within the GOP. Vance does nothing to expand his base or bring more moderate voters to Trump.

The outreach to Kennedy may have been designed to address that shortfall, generating the so-called unity narrative that the national media seems so anxious to write. Both the call and the in-person meeting indicate that Trump is a lot less confident about his chances in November than he claims in rallies. A number of recent polls show that the race remains close despite the furor over Biden’s performance in the first debate.

Trump reportedly did not know that the call was being recorded. But his obsequiousness toward Kennedy and his efforts to solicit some “big” action together show how anxious Trump is to secure support from the anti-vaccine candidate whose most recent headlines have centered around his admitted brain worm, his denial of eating a dog, and accusations of sexual assault.

Kennedy’s son reportedly posted this video on X along with a message criticizing Trump for failing to pick his father for vice president. That since-deleted post contained more anti-vax claims, including calling for Dr. Anthony Fauci to be jailed and dismissing Vance’s selection as a surrender to drug company Pfizer.