Exclusion of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. from the debates
Another Biden stipulation involved the exclusion of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. from the debates. In their statement on the debates, the Biden campaign claimed that “The debates should be one-on-one, allowing voters to compare the only two candidates with any statistical chance of prevailing in the Electoral College — and not squandering debate time on candidates with no prospect of becoming President.”
Recent polls have indicated that Kennedy is hurting Biden more than Trump, so excluding him from the debates was a critical element in their strategy.
Kennedy fired back on social media, “They are trying to exclude me from their debate because they are afraid I would win. Keeping viable candidates off the debate stage undermines democracy…By excluding me from the stage, Presidents Biden and Trump seek to avoid discussion of their eight years of mutual failure including deficits, wars, lockdowns, chronic disease, and inflation.”
Yet, it is Biden, not Trump, who wanted to exclude Kennedy. Trump said that he has “no problem” including Kennedy if he meets the “threshold.” CNN is requiring candidates to have 15% support in at least four major polls and ballot access in enough states to reach 270 electoral votes. Currently, Kennedy is not on enough ballots and his poll numbers are below the 15% mark. Regardless of his debate eligibility, Biden will insist Kennedy be excluded.
Biden’s team also limited the number of television networks eligible to air the debates to those broadcast outlets which had hosted debates in both 2016 and 2020. Finally, the campaign demanded that the microphones of the candidates be muted after their allotted speaking time expires.
Even though Biden got everything he wanted, President Trump is still confident, posting on Truth Social, “Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!”