Former President Trump released a video Thursday mocking independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for not meeting the requirements to appear at the first presidential debate.
The short video, recorded aboard Trump’s private jet, addressed reports that Kennedy had insufficient support in national polls and did not appear on enough state ballots to earn a spot at CNN’s upcoming debate.
“I know RFK Jr. wants to try to get onto the stage on Thursday, and I’d love to have him frankly, because I don’t think he’s much of a debater, and he’s got some very liberal, radical left ideas,” Trump said in the video. “But you have to get certain numbers, that was the criteria, and he’s way below those numbers. He’s not coming close.”
RFK JR. FAILS TO MEET REQUIREMENTS FOR FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, CNN SAYS
Former President Trump speaks before members of the Club 47 group at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
“So I hope to see him up there someday, but it looks to me like he’s not going to qualify on many fronts,” Trump continued. “They say he hurts Biden more than he hurts me, and I don’t know if that’s true or not. They say he hurts Biden because he’s a serious left person. If he is, that’s good — I don’t really care.”
In order to qualify for the CNN-hosted debate, candidates are required to receive at least 15% support in four separate national polls. Candidates must also be on the ballot in enough states to make it hypothetically possible to collect the 270 electoral college votes necessary to win the election.
Kennedy — the highest-performing 2024 candidate outside the Republican and Democratic parties — failed to meet the criteria by the Thursday morning deadline, the network said.
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Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
A CNN spokesperson independently confirmed to Fox News that RFK Jr. did not qualify.
“You have to do better than six or seven points. Maybe someday he’ll be there, but I doubt it,” Trump concluded in his Thursday video.
The independent candidate was only able to produce the necessary 15% support figure in three separate national polls, according to a news release by CNN. The network also reported that Kennedy had not qualified for the ballot in enough states to meet the 270 possible electoral college votes threshold.
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President Biden speaks to the press in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
“Presidents Biden and Trump do not want me on the debate stage and CNN illegally agreed to their demand,” Kennedy said in his own statement on Thursday. “My exclusion by Presidents Biden and Trump from the debate is undemocratic, un-American, and cowardly.”
“Americans want an independent leader who will break apart the two-party duopoly,” he added. “They want a President who will heal the divide, restore the middle class, unwind the war machine, and end the chronic disease epidemic.”