RFK Jr. Calls His Exclusion From Presidential Debate 'Undemocratic, Un-American, And Cowardly'

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized his exclusion from the CNN presidential debate on June 27 as “undemocratic, un-American, and cowardly” in a Thursday post on X.

The 2024 independent presidential candidate expressed his frustration, saying that “Americans want an independent leader who will break apart the two-party duopoly.” Despite his aspirations to directly challenge Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Kennedy, hailing from the historically Democratic Kennedy family, did not qualify for the debate.

What Happened: An update from CNN on Thursday confirmed that solely Biden and Trump would face off in the June debate, after Kennedy did not meet certain qualifications required to appear on stage.

One of the parameters set by CNN required participants to appear on enough state ballots to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold. Kennedy is only on the ballot in six states thus far — California, Michigan, Utah, Oklahoma, Hawaii and Delaware — totaling 89 Electoral College votes.

Why it Matters: Kennedy’s 2024 campaign could play spoiler to both Biden and Trump. Kennedy has staked out conservative positions on issues such as vaccines and culture war issues and liberal positions on climate activism. In 2023, Kennedy’s comments that the COVID-19 pandemic was genetically engineered to spare Ashkenazi Jews were widely decried as anti-Semitic.

The last third-party presidential candidate to qualify for a debate was Ross Perot in 1992. Many believe that Perot played spoiler to George H.W. Bush‘s campaign, propelling Bill Clinton to the White House.

Although Biden and Trump do not have a vested interest in facing off against Kennedy, the Independent candidate himself has repeatedly expressed a desire to participate in a debate. In May, Kennedy asked Elon Musk to host a debate on Musk’s social media platform X.

Other members of the Kennedy family endorsed Biden in April.

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