Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has accused the Democratic Party of “anointing a candidate hand-picked by elites” and urged them to return to an “open process” of selecting a nominee for the upcoming November elections—while also claiming that only he can beat former President Trump.
Following US President Biden’s announcement on Sunday that he would not be seeking re-election, RFK Jr. commended him “for stepping down,” saying that Biden’s “infirmities were evident to any unbiased observer from the beginning.”
“It was this progressive deterioration—and his abandonment of Democratic Party principles—that prompted me to enter the race and ensure American voters had a viable, vigorous alternative to Donald Trump,” RFK Jr., who initially entered the presidential race as a Democrat but dropped out after being blocked by the party from challenging Biden in the primaries, said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.
He then slammed the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for “rigging” the nomination process by getting “a monumentally unpopular vice president to step into President Biden’s shoes,” arguing that “it’s the easiest way to hold onto the money,” referring to campaign finance rules that make transferring funds from the incumbent president to his running mate possible during the election cycle.
“I call on the Democratic Party to return to its traditional commitment to democracy and exemplify it with an open process. Instead of anointing a candidate hand-picked by DNC elites, the party should use neutral polling to identify the candidate who can best beat Donald Trump. The delegates should then select a nominee based on this information,” RFK Jr. concluded.
Later in the day, he called a press conference at his family home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, where he criticized the DNC for trying to hide Biden’s health issues, claiming that it had been done to prevent any other candidate from competing with the incumbent “in a way that would expose his deficiencies.”
Kennedy also took a jab at both Republican nominee Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who was endorsed by President Biden for the Democratic Party nomination, saying that they conceal “the real purpose of their objective” and represent “corporate interests rather than the interests of the American public.”
RFK Jr. then stated that he would be willing to accept the Democratic nomination if it was offered to him, arguing that he is “the only presidential candidate who can beat Donald Trump.”
“I believe at this point it’s a two-man race or two-person race. Let me put it that way. And, you know, I’m in the best position to win,” he stated.
According to various polls, Kennedy currently stands to win around 10% of the national vote. His campaign claims to be pro-choice and pro-environment and has condemned “corporate capture,” the affordability crisis, and “forever wars.”