Log in

2024 Presidential Election Who Is Running? Issues Tracker Candidates on Executive Power Nate Cohn’s Mailbag

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Run for

President as Independent, Leaving
Democratic Primary
The political scion told supporters he would end his campaign as
a Democratic candidate and run as an independent, potentially
upsetting the dynamics of the 2024 election.

Share full article 1k

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, has built a base of support made up
of disaffected voters across the political spectrum. Matt Rourke/Associated Press

By Rebecca Davis O’Brien

Reporting from Philadelphia

Oct. 9, 2023

In a move that could alter the dynamics of the 2024 election, Robert
F. Kennedy Jr. said on Monday that he would continue his
presidential run as an independent candidate , ending his long-shot
pursuit of the Democratic nomination against an incumbent
president.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters outside the National

Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Mr. Kennedy, a leading vaccine
skeptic and purveyor of conspiracy theories, said he represented “a
populist movement that defies left-right division.”

“The Democrats are frightened that I’m going to spoil the election
for President Biden, and the Republicans are frightened that I’m
going to spoil it for Trump,” he said. “The truth is, they’re both
right. My intention is to spoil it for both of them.”

Since announcing his candidacy in April, Mr. Kennedy, 69, has been
a sharp critic of Democratic leadership, which he has accused of
“hijacking the party machinery” to stifle his challenge to Mr. Biden.
He has also said, in interviews and in public appearances, that the
party has abandoned its principles and become corrupted.

Running as an independent will entail an expensive, uphill battle to

get on the ballot in all 50 states. Last week, Cornel West, a liberal
academic and presidential candidate, said he would run as an
independent , abandoning his efforts to secure the Green Party’s
nomination.

In a 45-minute speech on Monday, Mr. Kennedy described

encounters across America with people he called the “ranks of the
dispossessed,” interspersed with angry barbs about “the
surveillance state” and the “tyranny of corruption.” He quoted the
Old Testament, John Adams, Martin Luther King Jr., Tennyson and
his own father.

But Mr. Kennedy, the scion of a liberal political dynasty, has

alienated his own family members and many Democrats with his
promotion of conspiracy theories , his rejection of scientific
orthodoxies and his embrace of far-right political figures.

“Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not
share the same values, vision or judgment,” four of Mr. Kennedy’s
siblings — Rory Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy II
and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend — said in a statement on
Monday. “We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous
for our country.”

Mr. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, has been lionized by a

movement that has expanded beyond anti-vaccine sentiments,
including opposition to the mandatory vaccination of children, to
push back more broadly against state public health measures. In
recent years, his open suspicions about the government’s handling
of the coronavirus and his criticism of lockdowns and vaccine
policies gave him a new platform and earned him popularity
among many Americans who had wearied of the pandemic.

“Our campaign has ignited a movement that has been smoldering

for years,” Mr. Kennedy said.

To roars of applause, Mr. Kennedy told his supporters they were

“declaring independence” from a lengthy list of perceived
adversaries: “Wall Street, Big Tech, Big Pharma”; the “military
industrial complex”; “the mercenary media”; “the cynical elites”;
both of the major political parties and “the entire rigged system.”

He has built a base of support made up of disaffected voters across

the political spectrum , but some Democrats have worried that he
poses the biggest threat to their party, fearing that any
independent or third-party candidacy could peel off voters from
Mr. Biden.

Shortly after Mr. Kennedy entered the race, some polls showed him
with up to 20 percent of Democratic support — which was in large
part a measure of the desire among some for an alternative to Mr.
Biden. Mr. Kennedy’s numbers have sagged in recent months,
though his campaign, which dwells as much on nostalgia for his
political lineage as it does on skepticism about the scientific and
political establishment — continues to appeal to a particular cross-
ection of skeptical Democrats, political conservatives and
independents.

The Republican National Committee, in a reflection of its own

concerns about Mr. Kennedy, sent out an email on Monday titled
“23 Reasons to Oppose RFK Jr.,” listing ways in which he has been
aligned with Democrats in the past, including his record of
opposing fossil fuel extraction.

Monday’s event drew supporters from across the political

spectrum.

Sean Gleason, a retired state police officer from New Jersey, said
he was a registered Republican and a two-time Trump voter who
planned to leave the party and vote for Mr. Kennedy. “I’m done
with the duopoly,” Mr. Gleason said. He is supporting Mr. Kennedy,
he said, because “I think he’s telling the truth, even the truth
people don’t really want to hear.”

Michael Schroth, a 69-year-old former teacher from Haverhill,

Mass., said he was an undeclared voter who had previously voted
for Ralph Nader, Barack Obama and Jill Stein. He has been a fan of
Mr. Kennedy’s since he heard him speak two years ago. “He is
intelligent,” he said. “He thinks through problems.”

Rebecca Briggs, 60, a health coach and nutritionist from Rhode

Island, said she was a registered Democrat and had voted for Mr.
Biden in 2020, “because I didn’t want Trump — but I actually didn’t
want either of them.” She said she was ready to leave the party
with Mr. Kennedy.

“I was afraid to tell people — afraid of the reaction,” she said of

supporting him. “I have to move forward with courage.”

Mr. Kennedy has raised two main complaints about the Democratic
National Committee, which is supporting Mr. Biden’s re-election
effort. First, he said, Mr. Biden and the party pushed to change the
first primary state from New Hampshire — where Mr. Kennedy,
who has New England roots, enjoys a base of support — to South
Carolina, the state that rescued Mr. Biden’s primary campaign in
2020.

Second, the party has refused to arrange for debates between Mr.
Biden and Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Biden’s campaign and the D.N.C. have
also essentially refused to acknowledge Mr. Kennedy’s candidacy
and have avoided saying his name.

Mr. Kennedy had teased Monday’s announcement in a video last

week, though his campaign held off on confirming that he was
changing parties. But in the hours before he went onstage in
Philadelphia, there was a subtle change on Mr. Kennedy’s
campaign website. Where it had once read “I am a Kennedy
Democrat,” with the family name in italics, it was changed to: “I
am a Kennedy American.”

Rebecca Davis O’Brien covers campaign finance and money in U.S. elections. She
previously covered federal law enforcement, courts and criminal justice. More about
Rebecca Davis O’Brien
A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 10, 2023 , Section A , Page 13 of the New York edition with the
headline: Kennedy Announces He Will Run for President as an Independent . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Read 1013 Comments

Share full article 1k

The Run-Up to the 2024 Election

Donald Trump
Soon after the Hamas attacks on Israel, the former president and other
Republicans tried to cast blame on President Biden , saying that a hostage release
deal with Iran helped to finance the assault. This is false .

Since he first became a political candidate in 2016, Trump has glorified violence.
As his legal woes have escalated, so have his incendiary remarks .

President Biden
With Democrats worried that a third-party bid could throw a tight race to Trump,
the president’s top aides have blessed a broad offensive to starve such efforts of
cash and ballot access .

In his most direct condemnation of his leading Republican challenger in many

months, Biden portrayed Trump as a budding autocrat with no fidelity to the
tenets of American democracy.

The G.O.P. Field

Nikki Haley: The former governor of South Carolina has ramped up her fund-
in recent months , a sign that her performance in the early G.O.P. debates
may have invigorated her candidacy.
Ron DeSantis: The Florida governor is relocating a significant portion of his
campaign staff from Tallahassee to Des Moines after a $15 million fund-raising
haul.
Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie: The Republican National Committee
squashed plans for the entrepreneur and the former New Jersey Governor to face
off in an unofficial debate .

Tim Scott: As a longtime bachelor, the presidential candidate is hardly a rarity in

America. But his marital status is nearly impossible to avoid on the campaign trail .

More In Politics Trending in The Times

How Do My Calorie Needs Change as I

Age?

‘Don’t Do That Again’: Sam Bankman-

Lawyers Under Fire From Judge

Rebecca Noble for The New York Times Hilary Swift for The New York Times Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times Cassidy Hutchinson’s Subtle New Style
Mike Lindell’s Lawyers Say He Two Families Got Fed Up With For Biden’s Dog, a Belated Exile:
Owes ‘Millions’ in Fees Their States’ Politics. So They ‘How Many Bites Does It Take?’ In Search of Kamala Harris
Moved Out.
Why Tugboats Are Key to the $19
Billion Overhaul of Kennedy Airport

Among American Jews, ‘You See a Lot

of Broken Spirits’ After Attacks

Nearly 1,000 Birds Die After Striking

Morry Gash/Associated Press Maansi Srivastava/The New York Times Joe Buglewicz for The New York Times
Chicago Building
As Wisconsin Supreme Court Takes McCarthy Floats Return as Divided Nikki Haley Raises $11 Million,
Up Maps Case, Impeachment G.O.P. Prepares to Choose a Battling With DeSantis to Take On Late Night Hosts Address the Hamas
Threat Looms Speaker Trump Attacks on Israel

Editors’ Picks Lost in Tibetan Avalanches, 2 American

Women Close to a Record

Opinion: There’s a Reason Hasan

Minhaj’s Lies Found Such a Big
Audience

Melody Melamed for The New York Times David Kelly for The New York Times Roddy Mackay for The New York Times

How Your Diet Affects Your Skin How Do You Make a 375-Square- They Accidentally Bought the
Home Feel Luxurious? Wrong House. So They Made It the
Right House.

Go to Home Page »

news Opinion Arts Living More Subscribe

Home Page Today's Opinion Today's Arts Automotive Reader Center Home Delivery
World Columnists Art & Design Games The Athletic Digital Subscriptions
Coronavirus Editorials Books Education Wirecutter
Games
U.S. Guest Essays Best Sellers Book List Food Cooking
Politics Letters Dance Health Headway Cooking
New York Sunday Opinion Movies Jobs Live Events Email Newsletters
Business Opinion Video Music Love The Learning Network Corporate Subscriptions
Tech Pop Culture Magazine Podcasts Education Rate

Science Television Parenting Video

Mobile Applications
Sports Theater Real Estate Graphics Replica Edition
Wildfire Tracker Video: Arts Style TimesMachine International
Obituaries T Magazine Times Store Canada
Today's Paper Travel Manage My Account Español
Corrections Gift Articles 中文网
Trending NYTLicensing

© 2023 The New York Times Company NYTCo Contact Us Accessibility Work with us Advertise T Brand Studio Your Ad Choices Privacy Policy Terms of Service Terms of Sale Site Map Help Subscriptions