Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Why He Thinks He has a Chance as an Independent Candidate Transcript

This election season, we’ve seen a handful of outsiders seeking to challenge President Biden and his likely opponent, former President Donald Trump as third-party or independent candidates. One is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and a longtime environmental lawyer.

(00:18)
A recent national poll shows in a three-way matchup with Biden and Trump, Kennedy has support from 22% of registered voters. I sat down with him earlier this week to discuss his campaign and I asked him why he thinks he’s connecting with voters.

I think people are tired of the vitriol, they’re tired of the polarization. We’ve made a big effort at trying to talk about issues, about the values that Americans hold in common rather than the culture war issues that drive everybody apart. I’ve been focused on being civil, but I think most important, people really want to hear the truth and they want to hear the truth about a lot of different issues, and Americans feel that they’re being lied to by the media, by the government agencies that are supposed to be honest with the American people. And they’re feeling that the system is rigged against them, that the middle class is disintegrating in this country and that nobody is hearing them, that the government and the system are rigged against them.

How do you translate that polling support, which is to be clear, a year out, right? A lot can happen in the next year. How do you translate that into electoral support though? I mean, because the independent campaigns, especially ones as large as yours, they faced legal challenges in the past, external pressure, you look at Ralph Nader in 2004, what’s your path to 270? Are you targeting specific states, for example?

Yeah, we’re targeting specific states, and you’re right-

Which states are you targeting?

I mean, all of the traditional battleground states are states that we think we can do really well and all I need to do-

You’re talking Wisconsin, Pennsylvania?

Yeah. And all I need to do in those states, Arizona-

Arizona.

… and Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, all I need to do in those states is get 34% of the vote and I can walk away with 270 electors, because the electors are winner take all, and it’s assigned by plurality rather than majority.

But are you near 34 in any of those states?

Oh, I’m at 22 now, a year out. Nobody’s ever been that.

That is nationally though, right?

Nationally, nobody has ever been, that I know of in our history has ever been, except for George Washington, who is the last independent president has ever been this high in the polls this far out and particularly among key constituencies, young people and independent.

(02:59)
So, I don’t know what will happen and I’m not a good spin person, but I feel pretty good about where I am today. I think I’d rather be in my position than I would in President Trump’s position or President Biden.

Can I ask you another question about your candidacy? Because a number of your own family members have spoken out against it. Four of your siblings issued a statement denouncing your candidacy, saying it’s dangerous for the country. They wrote in a statement, “Bobby might share the same name as our father. He doesn’t share the same values, vision or judgment.” Your family are icons of the Democratic Party. They do not typically speak out against their own, but they are in this case. Why?

Well, I have 105 family members, living family members-

But these are your siblings.

… a lot of them are supporting me. But let me ask you this, does your family always agree with everything that you do?

They don’t always agree with me, but I think they’d vote for me if I ran for president.

Well, a lot of them are going to vote for me, but not all of them.

Your siblings, though, I argue, who know you better.

Listen, my family has a long history with President Biden. There’s five members of my family that are working for the administration and President Biden has a statue, a bust of my father behind him at the Oval Office. I’ve known President Biden virtually my entire life. All the people in my family or many of the people, including all the people that you mentioned there, the four members of my family you mentioned there, have strong, long friendships with President Biden, and I understand they are disappointed with the fact that I would run against him, but-

But they’re more than disappointed, sir. They’re saying that it’s dangerous for the country.

Well, you would have to ask them. Why don’t you have them on this show and you could ask them why they said that? My understanding is that, and this is, I think, one of the problems with the Democratic Party right now is that nobody is saying about President Biden that we want him for president because he’s going to give us a vigorous leadership, that he has the energy, that he has the cognitive ability, that he has the vision to inspire Americans. Instead, what they’re saying is you got to vote for him despite all of the defects that are clear to everybody, because if you don’t vote for him, somebody worse is going to get in there, and that’s what they mean by the word dangerous.

(05:21)
I think that the Democratic Party has to offer Americans a better, more positive vision for this country than just, “Do what we say or President Trump is going to endanger our democracy.” We should be able to do more than that. We should be able to inspire people. And I think that’s why so many young people and independents are supporting me because they’re tired of the fear tactics. They’re tired of being manipulated through orchestrated fear.

Well, let me ask you-

And they want something to inspire them.

Let me ask you, if I may, let me ask you about a specific concern your family’s expressed in the past too, which is your controversial views on vaccines and being part of the anti-vaccine movement in particular.

What are my views on vaccines?

Well, you’ve said previously that no vaccine is safe or effective, which is-

I’ve never said that.

You did say that in a podcast interview in July.

No, I would never say that.

You did say that. There are quotes and that recording is there.

You are wrong, and you’re making something up.

On Fox News you said that you still believe in this idea that vaccines can cause autism, which has long been debunked.

But now you’re changing the subject. What you said wrong before-

No, sir. I’m asking about your views on vaccines.

Well, that’s why I’m happy to say that my views are that vaccines should be tested, like all other medications are tested, they should have placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure. It’s the only medical product, the only medical product or medical device that is allowed to get a license without engaging in safety tests. [inaudible 00:06:55].

So, you do not believe a statement that no vaccine is safe and effective? You don’t believe that?

I never said that.

According to these reports and the recordings, you have, in a podcast interview in July.

Yeah. But you know what? That’s the problem, if you are reading reports about me in the mainstream media, including this network, they’re almost all inaccurate. I’m not anti-vax. I’ve never been anti-vax.

You just spoke before one of the largest anti-vaccine groups in the country a few days ago.

That’s not what they call themselves.

That’s not what they call themselves, but that’s what they advocate for.

Well, you know what? I speak to a lot of people and I don’t agree and I don’t pretend to agree with everything that everybody in the audience says.

Can I ask you-

Listen, I fought against mercury in fish for 40 years. Nobody called me anti-fish. I like the idea that we have seat belts in cars. Nobody calls me anti-automobile. I want vaccines that are safe just like every other medicine and that are adequately tested. It doesn’t mean I’m anti-vaccine. It just means that I’m sensible and have common sense. I think that most Americans, if they understood my views, my real views, rather than this distortions of my views and the mischaracterizations that they hear from the mainstream media, including this network, that they would agree with me.

I’ll just say there’s evidence of these statements on the record and people can look it up for themselves.

Show me a statement, not evidence of a statement.

I’d be happy to. Let me ask you about-

Show me a statement rather than what you call evidence of a statement.

Let me ask you more broadly about 2024 and where we are right now, a year away from the date people will cast ballots. We know in their respective parties, Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden are still leading by wide margins regardless of how high you are polling, right? The latest numbers from Quinnipiac show 64% of Republican and leaning voters supporting Mr. Trump, 77% of Democrats and Dem-leaning voters were supporting Mr. Biden. If those numbers do not shift, how do you decide if and when you should end your candidacy?

I have no intention of ending my candidacy. I have an intention to win. I’m way ahead of any independent candidate in history right now and I intend to win the election.

Robert F. Kennedy, candidate for President as an independent candidate, we thank you for coming by. Appreciate you being here.

Thank you for having me, Amna.

And you can watch more of our interview with Mr. Kennedy on our website, including questions on immigration and abortion.