Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became a candidate for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination on Sunday, a shocking move that could give him enough votes to defeat Donald Trump or Joe Biden in November.
Kennedy, who spoke at the convention on Friday, was nominated by a delegate at the convention on Sunday to be the party’s standard barrier in the White House. Kennedy’s candidacy was met with boos from other delegates.
However, his candidacy was short-lived. He was eliminated from the race after the first round of voting, having received the support of 19 delegates, just 2.07% of the votes.
There was initially some confusion over whether Kennedy, who is running as an independent candidate, would accept the nomination and whether he had submitted the necessary paperwork.
Kennedy had originally said he would remain an independent candidate and would not be the Libertarian contender.
Finally, party president Angela McArdle, standing at the podium, called Kennedy to ask him a question.
She stepped away from the microphone to speak to him, but was heard telling him: “I’m at the podium and I need to ask you if you’ll accept the nomination.”
He then took the microphone again to inform the delegates: “He will contact us.”
Kennedy eventually accepted the nomination. McArdle also confirmed that his paperwork is in order and that he qualifies to be a candidate.
He called the convention, waiting for the opportune moment to accept the nomination. Her call was broadcast on a giant screen at the convention center.
Robert F Kennedy accepted the nomination to be the presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party
Libertarians spent the weekend choosing their candidate for the White House.
Trump was also nominated from the floor on Sunday. However the The former president cannot be the leading contender because one person cannot be the candidate of two parties in all but five states.
And a Trump campaign official notes that “President Trump would not have been eligible to be the Libertarian nominee anyway because he never joined the party.”
Kennedy’s swift defeat on the convention floor is also a setback for his independent presidential bid.
There was a long list of candidates. Additionally, Stormy Daniels got a write-in vote as did Sean Lennon and Denali The Cat.
Had Kennedy won the nomination, it would have been a boost to his efforts to appear on the ballot in all 50 states, and a threat to the efforts of both Biden and Trump to win a second term in the White House.
The Libertarian Party has access to ballots in at least 37 states, including key battlegrounds such as Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
As an independent candidate, Kennedy must appear on each state’s ballot separately, and each state has its own procedures for doing so.
But if he were the Libertarian candidate, he would appear on ballots in enough states to theoretically obtain the 270 Electoral College votes needed to qualify for the state presidential debate, and even win the presidency.
If Kennedy were the candidate and won all 37 states, he would get 380 electoral votes.
The Libertarian Party’s 37 states are more than double the 15 states where Kennedy’s campaign currently says it is taking steps to appear on the ballot.
In other scenarios, Kennedy could win enough votes in a swing state to influence whether Biden or Trump wins the battleground, which in turn could affect the winner of the general presidential election.
That threat from Kennedy’s candidacy is causing nightmares for both Biden and Trump’s teams. Each candidate’s campaign has attacked Kennedy.
Opinion polls suggest he could siphon votes away from both men, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll in May showed he had the support of 13% of respondents.
Kennedy accepted the nomination in a brief video statement in which he thanked party members for the “unexpected honor.” He said he hopes libertarians will join “an alliance” of independent and third-party voters to help defeat Biden and Trump.
“I am very grateful to the Libertarian Party for this great honor and I look forward to a nationwide alliance, a fusion alliance of all of these independent parties that are now challenging the corrupt Republican-Democratic duopoly,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy and Trump also addressed the convention in person: Kennedy on Friday and Trump on Saturday. Convention organizers also invited President Biden to speak, but he declined.
Both Kennedy and Trump faced a hostile reception from the libertarian crowd (receiving boos and jeers) when each made their comments.
Kennedy, however, won some plaudits by promising to pardon government whistleblower Edward Snowden, currently exiled in Russia, and drop espionage charges against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who is fighting U.S. attempts to extradite him from Britain. .
He also harshly criticized both Trump and Biden for their response to the Covid pandemic.
“Maybe a brain worm ate that part of my memory, but I don’t remember anywhere in the United States Constitution where there is an exemption for pandemics,” Kennedy said, referencing a New York Times report that he They were diagnosed more than a decade ago with a parasite that lodged in their brain.
“Neither of them defended the Constitution when it really mattered,” he said of Biden and Trump.
Former President Donald battled boos, jeers and outbursts Saturday night as he tried to rally support from Libertarian voters.
However, many in the crowd are concerned that Kennedy, who originally ran for the Democratic nomination before becoming an independent candidate, was not a true libertarian.
But Kennedy has emphasized what he has in common with libertarians, who have strong beliefs about individual and civil liberties and free choice. They believe in even smaller government than Republicans, but are less focused on lower taxes than the GOP.
“My approach is a free-market approach, which appeals to libertarians,” Kennedy told CNN last week.
‘I am against war, which I think is another important issue for libertarians. I support constitutional rights. President Trump dismantled our constitutional rights during Covid. So I think libertarians are probably more inclined to support me if they follow their philosophies.
Trump, in his remarks Saturday, got feisty with the crowd.
“You can nominate us and give us the job, or give us your votes,” Trump said to boos as he left the stage.
Trump repeatedly responded to the crowd and their hostility, telling them at one point to “keep getting your 3% (of the national vote) every four years,” adding “maybe you don’t want to win.”