Independent presidential Robert F. Kennedy Jr. envisioned sharing the stage with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump at CNN’s presidential debate on June 27.
Shut out of the forum, he will instead hold what his campaign has called “The Real Debate” in West Hollywood at the same time the current and former president meet in Atlanta.
Live streamed on X, Mr. Kennedy’s event will take place in a studio with a live audience, unlike the forum in Atlanta, where no audience members are permitted.
Former ABC News and Fox Business Network journalist John Stossel will serve as the moderator, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign announced on June 27.
In a video message on X, Mr. Kennedy referenced a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released in May that showed 71 percent of respondents want to see Mr. Kennedy included in presidential debates.
“You’re tired of voting for the lesser of two evils. Presidents Trump and Biden colluded with CNN to block me from representing your voices, and I’m not going to let them silence us,” Mr. Kennedy said.
He said he will answer the same debate questions as President Biden and former President Trump live.
“I’m going to be on that debate stage with or without their permission,” he said.
On May 15, CNN announced it would host a presidential debate on June 27—the earliest forum in the history of televised presidential discourses—and the first scheduled before the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention.
According to multiple reports, President Biden’s campaign proposed excluding third-party candidates from the debates and former President Trump’s campaign received assurances from CNN that Mr. Kennedy would not be allowed to participate.
Later, former President Trump said his independent opponent should be included if he meets the guidelines.
According to debate qualification rules listed by CNN, by the June 20 debate eligibility deadline, a candidate’s name must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidency.
To date, the Kennedy–Shanahan campaign said it has collected the required signatures needed for ballot access in 25 states totaling 348 electoral votes.
In theory, that meets CNN’s debate qualification guidelines; however, states typically certify presidential candidates in August and September.
CNN also said that candidates must also get “at least 15 percent in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters that meet the media outlet’s standards for reporting.”
Mr. Kennedy has met the requirements for three of those polls. Last week, he gained 17 percent support in a Marquette Law School survey. In April, he gained 16 percent backing in CNN and Quinnipiac polls.
“[That is] a clear breach of federal campaign finance law,” Mr. Kennedy’s complaint reads.
Mr. Kennedy also argued that, until President Biden and former President Trump are formally nominated at the Democrat and Republican conventions this summer, they are “presumptive nominees” and not officially on the ballot.
CNN released a statement in response to the complaint claiming that “the law in virtually every state provides that the nominee of a state-recognized political party will be allowed ballot access without petitioning.”
“As the presumptive nominees of their parties both Biden and Trump will satisfy this requirement. As an independent candidate, under applicable laws, RFK Jr. does not,” the network stated.
“The mere application for ballot access does not guarantee that he will appear on the ballot in any state.
CNN said Mr. Kennedy also didn’t meet the polling criteria.
In a statement released on June 27, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign noted that the CNN forum marks “the first time in American history that a general election debate has been owned and controlled by a for-profit corporation, and it will also be the first time since the inaugural presidential debate in 1960 between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon that a single voter will not be present.”
