The independent candidate for president is on a war path. He’ll stop at nothing to make a run for the Oval Office.
And RFK Jr. launched an all-out assault on Biden and Trump that could destroy their campaigns.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has no doubt ran a competitive third-party campaign for the United States presidency.
He’s polled in the teens in three national polls. Specifically, a Marquette Law School poll has Kennedy at 17%, while CNN and Quinnipiac polls both have him at 16%.
Kennedy has also stated that he’s gathered access to presidential ballots in nine states. Those states are California, Delaware, Hawaii, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.
But despite his successes, he will not be appearing on stage during the scheduled debates between President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump this year.
That’s led Kennedy to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) which alleges that CNN worked with both the Biden and Trump campaign to leave Kennedy out of the first scheduled debate in late June. The second scheduled debate will be hosted on ABC News in September.
The complaint, which was filed on Tuesday, argues that CNN, Biden, and Trump were involved in a collusion “that were designed to result in the selection of certain pre-chosen participants, namely Biden and Trump, in a clear breach of federal campaign finance law.”
In a Washington Post report from earlier in May, the outlet makes allegations that advisers for Joe Biden spoke with CNN and told them that the president would only do a debate with just Trump and no one else.
That same report also claims that a CNN producer told someone from the Donald Trump campaign that “RFK will not be on the stage.”
Kennedy’s complaint also argues that Biden and Trump were involved in wrongdoing for ditching the Commission on Presidential Debates to scheduled the CNN and ABC News debates.
“CNN is making prohibited corporate contributions to both campaigns and the Biden Committee and the Trump Committee have accepted these prohibited corporate contributions,” read the complaint.
CNN’s qualifications for the debates include, according to the outlet: “receive at least 15% in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters that meet CNN’s standards for reporting,” “agree to accept the rules and format of the debate,” and “a candidate’s name must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidency prior to the eligibility deadline.”
As mentioned before, Kennedy apparently has ballot access in nine states. Those nine states equal 171 electoral votes, which is short of the 270 requirement by CNN.
He’s also only appearing in three national polls instead of the four required.
CNN issued a statement to the Washington Examiner which denies the allegations that Kennedy’s FEC complaint makes.
“The law in virtually every state provides that the nominee of a state-recognized political party will be allowed ballot access without petitioning,” a spokesperson for CNN stated.
“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 mere application for ballot access does not guarantee that he will appear on the ballot in any state. In addition, RFK, Jr. does not currently meet our polling criteria, which, like the other objective criteria, were set before issuing invitations to the debate.”
It’s unlikely that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s complaint will cause the debates to shut down or cause punishment for both the Biden and Trump campaigns.
It’s probably in Kennedy’s best interest right now that he instead focuses on improving his poll numbers and getting more access to state ballots.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
