OAN’s Abril Elfi
3:03 PM – Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has filed a complaint against the CNN network for allegedly colluding with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to exclude him from the debate.
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On Wednesday, Kennedy Jr. filed the complaint regarding the event that will be held by CNN next month.
According to the Independent presidential candidate, the network set up the requirements for the debate in a way where “only Biden and Trump would qualify.”
“CNN is making prohibited corporate contributions to both campaigns and the Biden committee and the Trump committee have accepted these prohibited corporate contributions,” wrote lawyer Lorenzo Holloway, regarding Kennedy Jr. The letter was sent to the Federal Election Commission.
This month, Biden and Trump decided to participate in the CNN debate on June 27th and an additional one hosted by ABC on September 10th.
According to CNN, candidates will be invited if, by June 20th, they have secured a spot on the ballot in states with an Electoral College vote total of at least 270, which is the bare minimum needed to win the presidency. They also must receive 15% of the vote in four credible polls.
Although not all of the nine states—California, Delaware, Hawaii, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah—have confirmed that Kennedy’s name will be listed, his campaign claims he has submitted signatures or other documentation to be included on the ballot in these states, which together account for 171 electoral votes.
With 54 votes, California is the state with the most electoral votes on the map, but no candidate will be certified until August 29th.
Meanwhile, a CNN spokesperson released a statement on Wednesday saying that Kennedy Jr. has not met the polling criteria and that his application does not guarantee he will be placed on the ballots.
“The law in virtually every state provides that the nominee of a state-recognized political party will be allowed ballot access without petitioning,” they said. “As the presumptive nominees of their parties both Biden and Trump will satisfy this requirement. As an independent candidate, under applicable laws RFK Jr. does not. The mere application for ballot access does not guarantee that he will appear on the ballot in any state.”
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