Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to announce he will run as an independent instead of as a Democrat in the 2024 general election.
RFK Jr. will make the announcement on October 9 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, according to Mediaite.
Kennedy himself confirmed on X, formerly Twitter, that he had an announcement set for that date, though he remained coy about specifics in his teaser announcement:
Save the Date, Save the Country. #Kennedy24 pic.twitter.com/rSSs7flPKa
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) September 29, 2023
“Hi everybody, I’m going to be in Philadelphia on October 9 to make a major announcement at the very birthplace of our nation,” Kennedy said. “I’m not going to tell you right now exactly what that announcement will be.
“I can say, though, that if you’ve been waiting to come to one of my public events, this will be the one to come to.”
Mediaite reports that the Kennedy campaign plans to run attack ads against the Democratic National Committee to “pave the way” in the lead up the the event.
“Bobby feels that the DNC is changing the rules to exclude his candidacy so an independent run is the only way to go,” a Kennedy campaign insider told Mediaite.
Will RFK’s decision make a difference in the 2024 election?
Yes: 93% (143 Votes)
No: 7% (10 Votes)
The presidential candidate told Fox News earlier this month the DNC has fixed the primary process.
“The DNC has been very public, although its charter requires it to be neutral in presidential campaigns, has been very open about the fact that it has its candidate. It’s irritated that it has to have a primary season at all,” Kennedy said.
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Part of rigging the process, he argued was making the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary first, displacing the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire primary.
Biden finished fourth in the Iowa Caucus and fifth in the New Hampshire primary in 2020.
Kennedy noted that the New Hampshire law requires the Granite State to have the first in the nation primary.
RFK Jr said the DNC has also structured the fundraising rules in such as a way that Biden donors can give substantially more to his candidacy than Kennedy’s can.
BREAKING REPORT: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Planning to Announce Independent Run..
“Bobby feels that the DNC is changing the rules to exclude his candidacy so an independent run is the only way to go.” – Campaign Insider
Text message reveals Kennedy’s campaign machine is now… pic.twitter.com/ObRP0EGLHr
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) September 29, 2023
The son of the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy could play the spoiler in the 2024 election hurting Biden.
“In a general election, Democrats worry that a third-party run by Mr. Kennedy could draw votes away from Mr. Biden and help elect former President Donald J. Trump,” The New York Times reported.
“We’ve been very clear that third parties in close elections can be very dangerous and would almost certainly hurt the president,” Matt Bennett, a co-founder of the centrist Democratic group Third Way, told the Times in response to rumors RFK Jr. could run as a Libertarian candidate.
Ross Perot ran the most successful independent presidential candidacy in recent decades, garnering 18.9 percent of the popular vote, though winning no state in the Electoral College.
However, Perot may well have cost incumbent Pres. George H.W. Bush a second term, by taking more votes from him than Democrat Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton.
If Kennedy pulled a net even 1 or 2 percent of the vote in key swing states from Biden, it could make the difference if the results are similar to 2020 in places like Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin.
The latest Democratic primary polling from FiveThirtyEight shows Biden with 61.6 percent support to Kennedy’s 15.1 percent.
