Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hints at 3rd-party presidential run

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a presidential candidate seeking to win the Democratic nomination, has repeatedly hinted that he’s open to pursuing a third-party or independent campaign, should he fail to get on the Democratic ballot.

In a recent campaign stop in South Carolina, Kennedy told voters that the Democratic National Committee is actively working to keep him from winning the Democratic nomination, forcing him to “keep all (his) options open” about launching an independent run.

“They’re trying to make sure that I can’t participate at all in the political process, and so I’m going to keep all my options open,” Kennedy said.

A day later, he reiterated his position, telling a crowd in New Hampshire that he “would have to make a call before Oct. 15,” according to ABC News.

Kennedy, the son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Ted Kennedy, announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in April.

President Joe Biden is running for reelection, and the incumbent is seen as the all-but-sure nominee, maintaining a 50-percentage-point lead over Kennedy in national polls. But polls also show a growing skepticism of Biden’s age and fitness for office: An AP poll this month shows that 77% of Americans think Biden is too old to serve another term, including 69% of Democrats.

A separate CNN poll suggests that two-thirds of registered Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents want their party to nominate someone other than Biden. But of that group, when asked who they would like to see as the Democratic nominee, only 1% named Kennedy.

Kennedy has been accusing the DNC of making efforts to keep him off of the ballot for several weeks. In an interview with Forbes at the beginning of September, Kennedy accused the DNC of a “rigged” process to make it “simply impossible for anybody to challenge President Biden.”

“It’s pretty clear that the DNC does not want a primary,” Kennedy said. “Essentially, they are fixing the process so that it makes it almost impossible to have democracy function. They’re effectively disenfranchising the Democratic voters from having any choice in who becomes president, the Democrat nominee.”

The Kennedy campaign has tried to soften Kennedy’s statements, emphasizing that the goal is still to get on primary ballots and compete as a Democrat.

“We’re trying to stop the Democratic Party from making a mistake,” Kennedy campaign manager Dennis Kucinich told ABC News. “We’re trying to help the Democratic Party come to reconcile with its own voting base. ... Regardless of what’s been said, even by the candidate himself, we have not abandoned hope for the Democratic Party.”