Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. stands with supporter Celeste Shear in an Albany courtroom following a hearing on a lawsuit attempting to remove him from the ballot in New York. Disaffected New York Democrats are considering a Donald Trump vote, believing Kennedy might have sway over issues in the White House.

Andrew Cuomo was once urged to continue New York’s fracking ban by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his former brother-in-law. On Friday, that same Kennedy endorsed Donald Trump, who vows to “drill, baby, drill.”

Huh?

That difficult-to-reconcile contradiction helps explain why the remarkable political marriage surprised so many people, including longtime fans of the heir to a Democratic dynasty famous for his Hudson River environmental activism. Some are calling the endorsement a betrayal, or worse.

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But Jim and Celeste Shear are OK with it.

The Shears are big-time Kennedy fans who spent countless hours gathering signatures to get the candidate on New York’s ballot. The Glenville residents each voted for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 but may find themselves choosing Trump in November — if a court ruling that undemocratically booted Kennedy from the ballot is upheld.

The Shears remain Trump-skeptical. But Kennedy’s alliance with the Republican former president is reassuring, and they hope he’ll move the Republican nominee to care about issues, including spiking rates of chronic........

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