Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believes he will meet the qualifications established by CNN to participate in the June 27 presidential debate, but it’s uncertain if President Joe Biden will take part in the forum if that happens.
President Biden and President Donald Trump, the presumptive Democrat and Republican nominees, agreed to take the stage on June 27 on CNN, the outlet confirmed in a May 15 press release. The current and former presidents will also meet for a Sept. 10 debate televised by ABC.
According to debate qualification rules listed by CNN, a candidate’s name must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidency by the June 20 debate eligibility deadline. To date, the Kennedy campaign has met signature requirements for ballot access in 14 states, representing 187 electoral votes.
Candidates must also get “at least 15 percent in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters that meet CNN’s standards for reporting.” The window to determine eligibility for the June 27 debate opened on March 13 and closes on June 20, according to CNN.
Stefanie Spear, Mr. Kennedy’s press secretary, confirmed that the candidate would accept an invitation to participate in the June 27 event if he qualifies.
A CNN spokesperson has said that, to date, only President Biden and President Trump have qualified for its debate.
The non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates has overseen all presidential forums since 1988.
Initially, campaign officials for President Biden and former President Donald Trump expressed dismay about the possibility that the independent challenger could join their candidates on stage.
In a May 15 letter to the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates, President Biden’s campaign said the president would not participate in the commission’s planned fall debates, citing the preference for earlier dates.
President Trump’s campaign also sent a letter to the commission last month stating it would like earlier debates as well. Both campaigns have said that CNN told them that Mr. Kennedy would not be part of the debate.
On May 16, President Trump told Scripps News that he had “no problem” with Mr. Kennedy participating in the debates.
John F. Kennedy, Mr. Kennedy’s uncle, and Richard Nixon participated in the first televised presidential debates in 1960.
The Commission on Presidential Debates rules are the same as those imposed by CNN and ABC.
Ross Perot, the Reform Party nominee, was the last third-party candidate to participate in all three presidential debates in 1992, though his highest poll number was 7 percent. The Debate Commission did not have a minimum poll number requirement at the time.
The Debate Commission established its current rules in 2000. Since presidential debates started in 1960, no independent or third-party candidate has met the 15 percent polling threshold.
In response to the campaigns of President Biden and President Trump criticizing the scheduled dates for the Debate Commission’s forums, the organization noted in a statement that it “purposefully chose September 16 after a comprehensive study of early voting rules in every state.”
On Sept. 16, the day of the first debate, Pennsylvania voters can receive, complete, and return ballots at their county boards of elections, the statement pointed out. Early voting in every other stage starts later, the statement explained.
According to Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., former RNC chair who is now co-chair of the Debate Commission, ballot access hurdles are a key reason why independents have a difficult time qualifying for presidential debates. Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and the Green Party are on the ballot in all 50 states, he pointed out.
Gaining sufficient polling numbers is also a challenge. The Libertarian Party has yet to nominate a candidate for 2024 and will do so this month at its national convention in Washington. Green Party nominee Dr. Jill Stein is consistently polling around 1.5 percent.
To avoid additional scrutiny from the DNC, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign is waiting until the deadline nears to submit signatures in certain states, he told The Epoch Times.
“President Biden and the DNC have $3 billion to spend, and they are using that money to do everything they can to keep us off the ballot. We’re waiting as long as we can to submit signatures so they (the DNC) have a shorter amount of time (to potentially challenge them).”
Mr. Kennedy announced his candidacy to challenge President Biden for the Democrat Party nomination in April 2023. After encountering multiple roadblocks from the Democratic National Committee and claiming that the organization was “rigging the primary” to favor President Biden and prevent other candidates from competing, he chose to run as an independent in October 2023.
Since then, Mr. Kennedy has focused on gaining ballot access in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
On May 16, Mr. Kennedy announced that his campaign had collected enough signatures to appear on the New Jersey general election ballot, adding to a list that already includes New Hampshire, Nevada, Hawaii, North Carolina, Idaho, Nebraska, Iowa, and Ohio.
The Kennedy-Nicole Shanahan ticket has secured a spot on the ballot in California, Delaware, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.
At a recent campaign stop, Mr. Kennedy said that he would announce gaining access to ballots in one to three states per week.
Mr. Kennedy has challenged President Biden and President Trump to debates multiple times.
On May 15, he expressed his dismay at not being included in a post on X.
“Presidents Trump and Biden are colluding to lock America into a head-to-head match-up that 70 percent say they do not want. They are trying to exclude me from their debate because they are afraid I would win,” Mr. Kennedy wrote.
