Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has not been invited to participate in the upcoming presidential debate hosted by CNN, as announced by the network early Thursday.
CNN stated that only President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have met the criteria for the debate. The network specified that a candidate must be on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidency and must receive at least 15% in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters.
CNN had previously reported that Kennedy had achieved 15% in three recognized polls, but fell short of being confirmed on enough state ballots.
However, Kennedy’s campaign argues that Biden and Trump have not yet been officially nominated by their respective parties and their names are not yet certified to appear on a single state ballot. They claim that CNN is not adhering to its own criteria by inviting Biden and Trump before they are officially nominated.
“CNN’s published debate criteria require that ‘a candidate’s name must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold.’ CNN is enforcing this requirement for Kennedy but not for Presidents Biden and Trump, claiming they are the ‘presumptive nominee’ of their political parties,” stated Kennedy’s campaign.
The last time a third-party candidate was invited to debate the Republican and Democratic nominees was in 1992 with Ross Perot.
The debate is set for 9 p.m. on June 27.
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