Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent presidential candidate, has ruled out running as a Libertarian candidate to help him get on the ballots in all 50 states, a significant departure from his previous position, in which he left the door open.
“We’re not going to have any problems getting on the ballot ourselves, so we won’t be running Libertarian,” he said in an interview with ABC News.
Kennedy spoke from West Des Moines, Iowa, where his campaign was celebrating a successful Saturday afternoon gambit to get on the Iowa general election ballot, using a quirk in state law. It was intended to conduct a modest, one-day convention in West Des Moines with at least 500 qualified voters representing at least 25 of the state’s 99 counties.
The campaign claims to have accomplished that goal, with one of its members claiming to have 686 accredited delegates representing more than 35 counties in Iowa.
The Iowa Secretary of State’s office has not yet confirmed the results.
During an interview with ABC News before his assembly on Saturday, Kennedy said he found a one-day event “easier” than gathering the 3,500 signatures required to get independent access via petition.
And he is “100% confident” that he can reproduce these results in all 50 states, despite facing similar obstacles to getting on the ballot across the country.
“We’re going to add probably two to three states a week,” he added.
The independent candidate running on a We the People Party ticket appeared to be confident that he would require little to no outside assistance, telling ABC News that he has no plans to join the Libertarian Party to help him get on the ballot.
Angela McArdle, chair of the Libertarian Party, declined to comment for “at least a few days.” Kennedy, who is still facing a difficult ballot access campaign as an independent, has openly expressed an interest in running for the Libertarian nomination, which would guarantee him ballot access everywhere.
The group recently expressed reservations about Kennedy’s vice presidential nominee.
And Kennedy would not commit to dropping out of the race if he fails to achieve the 33% barrier he thinks is required to win in November, even if the convention yields less-than-desirable outcomes.
“I expect to win. “And you should ask that question to President [Joe] Biden,” he continued.
In response to a New York Times/Siena College survey that showed him at 2%, Kennedy alleged without evidence that the Times purposely distorted their polling methods to undermine his candidacy: “And I leave it to you to speculate as to why the New York Times would do that.”
He even mentioned it later, when he first appeared on stage for his public speech.
Kennedy told reporters that “the U.S. ought to be bending over backwards to protect Israel” in response to Iran’s retaliatory assault against Israel, but he disagreed with the deployment of combat forces to Israel.
“It is our oldest ally, and I believe the United States should go above and beyond to support Israel.” I believe the President must also do all in his power to de-escalate this issue,” Kennedy stated.
“Israel has never asked us in its history for soldiers, and, no, I don’t think they should be there,” he told reporters.
Former Biden voter Steven Bailey of Des Moines wants to see a discussion involving Kennedy, Biden, and former President Donald Trump.
However, Bailey dismissed Democratic assertions that Kennedy could sway the election by siphoning off just enough votes from Biden to benefit Trump.
“It’s not about tugging to the right or left. “It’s about who is the best man for the position, who is capable, who has better ideas, and who is superior.” Bailey stated. “And if that is RFK, vote for him.”
Marsha Kendall, another Iowa voter, said she was drawn to Kennedy because of his emphasis on environmental concerns and because she had previously supported Trump.
“He will be my candidate.” Otherwise, you know, I might not vote,” she explained. “I don’t know.”
Kennedy’s freshly appointed vice president, Silicon Valley attorney Nicole Shanahan, was noticeably absent from the ceremony.
When asked by ABC to explain her absence, Kennedy stated that she was unable to attend due to a visit to the country’s southern border earlier this week, as well as spending time with her daughter, but that the two remain a “united front.”
“She has been at the border for a week, and I believe she had her daughter today. She couldn’t join us on this trip, but we’ll be doing a lot of events together in the coming several weeks,” he explained.
“We form a single front. “I am very proud of her and what she is doing,” he remarked.
“I talk to Nicole probably two, three times a day,” he told me, “and I’m very proud of the stuff she’s been doing, and I look forward to appearing with her in places.”
