Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is gearing up to respond to the upcoming Trump-Biden debate on Thursday night with what his campaign is dubbing “The Real Debate.” However, CNN has excluded RFK Jr. from the debate, citing criteria such as a polling threshold and appearing on a sufficient number of states’ ballots to be eligible to win the presidency.
Kennedy and his team have pushed back against this decision, arguing that neither former President Donald Trump nor President Biden are currently on any ballots, as the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention have not yet taken place. In response, Kennedy’s campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing CNN, Mr. Biden, Trump, and their campaigns of violating federal election law.
The complaint alleges that CNN is making prohibited corporate contributions to both campaigns, which have been accepted by the Biden and Trump committees. As a result, Kennedy’s campaign is seeking to rectify this situation by hosting its own solo debate, which will be live-streamed on “X” and TheRealDebate.com from a studio in Los Angeles. Unlike the Trump-Biden debate, the Kennedy event will feature a live audience and is scheduled to take place at 9 p.m. Thursday, coinciding with the Trump-Biden debate.
Details regarding how the solo debate will unfold have not been fully disclosed by the Kennedy campaign. However, one of Kennedy’s sons shared in a video on Twitter that the format will involve the other two candidates speaking live, followed by Kennedy’s response in real time.
Meanwhile, Trump and Mr. Biden are set to debate in Atlanta starting at 9 p.m. Thursday on CNN, with the event also being streamed on CBSNews.com.
As the political landscape continues to evolve, stay tuned for further updates on this developing story.
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Kathryn Watson, a politics reporter for CBS News Digital based in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. Watson covers a wide range of political topics and provides valuable insights into the latest developments in the political sphere.
