POLITICS

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.

RFK Jr. Says He's Holding the 'Real Debate'

Candidate plans to answer same questions as Biden, Trump while CNN event is underway

by Rob Quinn,
June 26, 2024

Kennedy supporters protest outside the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, last week. Damian Dovarganes photo


While President Biden and Donald Trump are debating Thursday night, an independent candidate excluded from the CNN-hosted debate will be holding his own event. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign says he will be responding to the same questions as Biden and Trump in real time in an event called "The Real Debate," reports, CBS News. "I'm going to be on that debate stage with or without their permission," Kennedy says in a video posted on X.

The Kennedy campaign says the event will be streamed from a studio in Los Angeles starting at 9pm Eastern on Thursday, the same time as the Biden-Trump debate. Unlike that debate, the campaign says, the Kennedy event will have a live studio audience. Kennedy failed to meet CNN's requirements to take part in the debate, which included reaching at least 15% support in four recognized national polls.

On Piers Morgan Uncensored, Kennedy said Tuesday that he wasn't expecting moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper to ask tough questions, the New York Post reports. He called Trump a "brilliant entertainer" and predicted he would win the debate. "He could win a prize for the greatest debater in modern American history, probably since Lincoln-Douglas," Kennedy said.