Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Pokes Fun at CNN Debate Criteria

Posted on by May 20, 2024

On May 19, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., appearing on television, pointed out that neither President Joe Biden nor former President Donald Trump are officially on any state’s ballot so far. That is because they haven’t been nominated yet, and they will not have both been nominated until late August. See this story. Of course CNN, the sponsor of the June 27 debate, considers Biden and Trump to have “qualified for the ballot in states with at least 270 electoral votes” because CNN knows it is extremely likely that they will be on the ballot.

Also Kennedy said he will be on the ballot in states with 340 electoral votes by the end of May.

Comments

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Pokes Fun at CNN Debate Criteria — 30 Comments

  2. That’s a pretty silly argument. Trump and Biden both need to actually be nominated by their parties. Kennedy nominated himself by forming his own party.

  3. It’s not a silly argument. What will CNN count as states where Kennedy is on, where he says he has enough signatures or where states certify them? This is his counterargument if CNN says it’s the second one.

  4. Kennedy can now sue if he is not allowed to debate due to this cut and paste job by CNN. CNN are such idiots. Love it !!

    Kennedy 2024
    Momentum is on the side of Bobby. Time to Heal America.
    Big Pharma your days of killing and maiming people with the vaccine are numbered

  5. Only half the states where he has enough signatures certified, so that makes a big difference.

  8. And why would either Trump or Kennedy want to appear on CNN? Everyone already knows CNN in incapable of being honest, so there is nothing to expose. All it would serve to do, is boost CNN viewership numbers.

    I know Trump previous stated that he is willing to go along with any conditions for a debate that Biden may have. But that is clearly too stupid even for him, so it’s safe to chalk that one up as yet another instance of shooting off his big mouth with no intention of honoring what comes out.

  10. Probably more like 40. Their finances are a mess, and a lot of their volunteers are going to walk as well.

  12. Don’t conflate RINOs, like Trump, Haley and Hutchinson, with the LINOs who make up most of the LP. While none of them have American interests at heart, their interests also do not align with one another. As one of the more sensible things Mike ter Maat said:

    ‘They might imagine that there’s a great deal of philosophical overlap between our party and one or more of these individuals, and that is largely not true, and so I worry about that. I worry about people saying, “Trump is Libertarian” or “The party is MAGA.” That is just clearly untrue, […] once we get to Memorial Day and beyond, I think people will recognize the role that these speakers had at our convention, which is largely some media attention and some entertainment. The way I look at it is these folks are paid or unpaid entertainers. They’re there to attract attention and make the event a little bit interesting, but that’s really all there is to it.’

  13. The Libertarian presidential nominee is highly likely to be on the ballot in 48 states. Only New York, Illinois, and D.C. are unlikely, and Illinois is not impossible. The party is doing well with its Virginia and Pennsylvania petitions. And there would even be hope for New York if the 2nd circuit strikes down the May petition deadline. The oral argument was last week.

  14. Bill: If the LP nominated Trump, he’d be on the ballot as a Libertarian in a low single digit number of states.

    Richard Winger: all due respect, but you’re an eternal optimist. You presume all the states in the LNC plan will be successfully completed, including the ones they have to do “over” because the state recognized party is not aligned with the LNC. I don’t believe they will be as successful as they think. I believe they will end up with the worst ballot access in terms of states or EVs, worst raw vote total, and worst percentage for their nominee – if in fact it’s not NOTA – since the 1980s and the worst raw vote placing – my best guess is 6th – since the 1970s.

    We’ll see what happens.

    Here’s an interesting question you may know the answer better to than me: suppose the LP actually did nominate Trump or NOTA, how many states would it be likely to lose ballot status retention in as a result? For the purpose of this question, the likelihood or wisdom aside from ballot access of either option is not relevant.

    The LP would actually stand a much *better* chance of retention in NY and CT (for president) if it petitioned a second line for Trump in those states, I would think, than with any of the 7 or so no name candidates currently seeking their nomination.

  16. From my hazy recollection of discussion about the ballot access implications of nomination of NOTA in past years, it was not very many states.

  17. I recall that in 1984, the Libertarians split, and a bunch of folks left the party. Bergland was the eventual nominee, and actually ran a decent campaign, in spite of the internal drama.

  18. Bergland was on the ballot in 39 states in 1984, and got 200,000+ popular votes. We will see if the LP can match that this year.

  22. An interesting gambit that the LP could try, if the national convention votes NOTA, is to place unpledged electors on state ballots, who promise NOT to vote for any other candidate listed on the ballot. A NOTA for President campaign.

  23. Joe Biden is the only one who will bring back abortion on demand nationwide and extend it to the 5th trimester. He will make abortions publicly funded, in fact women who get an abortion will get a government check as will their caring medical professionals. Women who make under $50,000 who are single will be automatically entered into a drawing for a free brand new Cadillac with a Joe Biden wraparound as long as they get a Joe Biden tramp stamp or face tattoo.

  24. I forgot to say they also have to have an abortion to enter the drawing. I’m going back to bed.

  26. I have never supplied any drugs to the casket of President Joe Biden.

  27. “The LP would actually stand a much *better* chance of retention in NY and CT (for president) if it petitioned a second line for Trump in those states,”

    If the LP actually DID nominate Trump, it would probably be useful to the party ONLY in NY and CT. The party could not list Trump on its line in any other states, and, as a result, would probably lose its ballot status in a lot of them.

    ON the whole, it doesn’t make any sense for the LP to nominate ANY candidate of ANY OTHER party, for this reason.

  28. California allows a second line, although the votes are not reported separately. I’ve read possibly Mississippi and maybe one or two others. When you say a lot of states, can you name which ones? That was my question for Richard Winger, but he hasn’t answered it. Again, I’m not arguing whether it’s a good idea or likely, only exactly how many states it would be likely to cost retention in.

  29. As far as I know, outside of NY and CT, no other state would count Libertarian votes for Trump that I know of, meaning that none of those votes could be used to determine whether or not the party would retain ballot access in those places.

    If anyone can find any other states that would actually COUNT Libertarian votes for jointly nominated candidates separately, I would like to know.

  30. I don’t know of any for sure. But I’m more interested in the answer to how many states, and which states, they would be likely to lose.

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