Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Monday his switch from the Democratic Party to independent for his 2024 White House bid.
During a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, speech that his campaign billed as a “historic announcement,” Kennedy, 69, spoke in front of a sign that read, “Declare your independence.”
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“I’m here to declare myself an independent candidate,” he told the crowd. His announcement was followed by chants of “Bobby, Bobby, Bobby.”
“That’s not all. I’m here to join you in making a new declaration of independence for our entire nation,” he added. “We declare independence from the corporations that have hijacked our government. We declare independence from Wall Street, from Big Tech, from Big Pharma, from big [agriculture], and the military contractors and their lobbyists.”
“We declare independence from the mercenary media that is here to fortify all of the corporate orthodoxies from their advertisers and urge us to hate our neighbors and to fear our friends,” he continued. “We declare independence from the cynical elites who betray our hope and amplify our divisions.”
“Finally, we declare independence from the two political parties,” Kennedy said.
This declaration is necessary because these things “are incompatible with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” according to him.
Kennedy, the son of late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, has cut into President Joe Biden’s Democratic primary support throughout his campaign, which was launched in April. In a recent poll, he posted 17% to Biden’s 70%.
But Kennedy has seen support across the political spectrum.
A new poll from Reuters/Ipsos last week showed that he could hypothetically secure the votes of 1 in 7 voters in a matchup between himself, former President Donald Trump, and Biden. In a poll between the three, he garnered 14%, while Biden had 31% and Trump had 33%. The measure shows Kennedy pulling support from both men.
In another key metric, Kennedy has seen an advantage over both Biden and Trump. When it comes to favorability, 47% of registered voters have a “very” or “somewhat favorable” opinion of him. This is higher than the favorability ratings of Trump, 40%, and Biden, 43%.
Further, Kennedy also boasts better favorability numbers among independent voters, who are expected to decide the close 2024 matchup. Trump and Biden are considered “very” or “somewhat favorable” by 34% of independents each. Kennedy has a 10-point advantage on the two, with 44% favorability among the group.
The most stark contrast between Kennedy’s numbers and Biden’s and Trump’s is his unfavorability rating. Both Biden and Trump are considered “very” or “somewhat unfavorable” by more than half of registered voters, with 54% and 57%, respectively. Kennedy, however, is only considered unfavorable by 33%.
During his Monday announcement, Kennedy described his decision to run as an independent as painful, explaining his family’s history within the Democratic Party. However, he said, “My sacrifice is nothing compared to the risk our Founding Fathers took when they signed the Declaration of Independence 247 years ago.”
He noted that there have been independent presidential candidates before but said, “This time it’s going to be different because, this time, the independent is gonna win.”
Kennedy pointed to concerns over Biden’s age, 80, as well as Trump’s legal battles.
“That’s what two-party politics has given us. And that’s why we need to pry loose from the hammerlock of the corrupt powers in Washington, D.C., and make this nation ours again,” he said.
The Republican National Committee released a statement on Kennedy’s announcement immediately following it.
“Make no mistake — a Democrat in independent’s clothing is still a Democrat,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said.
“RFK Jr. cannot hide from his record of endorsing Hillary [Clinton], supporting the Green New Deal, fighting against the Keystone pipeline, and praising AOC’s tax hikes — he is your typical elitist liberal, and voters won’t be fooled. American families deserve commonsense leadership that will return America’s energy independence, stop Bidenflation, secure our border, and get our country back on track, which is why our Republican nominee will be the next president of the United States,” she continued.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Democratic National Committee and Biden’s 2024 campaign for comment.
The RNC also prefaced Kennedy’s event with an email and social media post highlighting “23 reasons for Republicans to oppose” him. The party referred to the candidate as a “typical Democrat.”
Reactions came from several of his siblings. “The decision of our brother Bobby to run as a third party candidate against Joe Biden is dangerous to our country,” read a statement from Rory Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy II, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. “Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment. Today’s announcement is deeply saddening for us. We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country.”
Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment. Today’s announcement is deeply saddening for us. We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country. @roryekennedy @joekennedy @KKT_Kennedy pic.twitter.com/WJfGwSxN1z
— Kerry Kennedy (@KerryKennedyRFK) October 9, 2023
Kennedy’s decision to run for president against Biden is not the sole controversy he faces. He has faced scrutiny from many for his activism against some vaccines, including making claims that they cause autism, which is not supported by evidence. He further invited criticism when a video emerged over the summer in which Kennedy is heard discussing the possibility that the COVID-19 virus was targeted at certain ethnicities and races.
“COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese,” he said in the video. “We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not.”
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Following the video’s publication, Kennedy said it misrepresented his point. “I accurately pointed out — during an off-the-record conversation — that the U.S. and other governments are developing ethnically targeted bioweapons and that a 2021 study of the COVID-19 virus shows that COVID-19 appears to disproportionately affect certain races since the furin cleave docking site is most compatible with Blacks and Caucasians and least compatible with ethnic Chinese, Finns, and Ashkenazi Jews,” he wrote on social media.
“In that sense, it serves as a kind of proof of concept for ethnically targeted bioweapons. I do not believe and never implied that the ethnic effect was deliberately engineered,” he said.
