RFK Seeks Debate On Twitter

Independent candidate for president Robert F. Kennedy proposed holding a presidential debate on X, formerly known as Twitter, and received support from the company’s owner Elon Musk. The idea came after the independent candidate has so far been shut out of the planned June and September debates between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Kennedy wrote that the debate should be on X, calling it the “new public square with 100x the audience of CNN.” He then challenged Trump to the debate, saying “I know you’ve got the guts to do it.”

The independent candidate also cited a recent poll that showed 71% of Americans seeking to have Kennedy be part of the debate. He requested access to the June 27 debate in Atlanta to “give Americans the debate they deserve.”

“You should be in the debate,” replied Musk.

You should be in the debate

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2024

The Trump and Biden campaigns reportedly agreed to not include Kennedy in the debate format. However, recently Trump said that he would have no problem with including Kennedy if he qualified to participate.

Candidates seeking to be a part of major party debates need to poll at 15% in several different surveys and be on the ballot in states representing at least 270 electoral votes. This is the number of electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

This is not the first time that Kennedy has sparred with the major party candidates over election access. Kennedy considered the idea of running for president under the Libertarian Party banner. However, he later rejected the idea.

Both Kennedy and Trump are expected to address the Libertarian National Convention.

Instead of running as a Libertarian, Kennedy’s campaign is instead collecting signatures to run under the independent We the People Party, which recently gained ballot access in several states.

Both the Trump and Biden campaigns have been increasingly critical of Kennedy and his campaign. Biden’s campaign has framed him as a right-wing extremist, while Trump called him a member of the “radical left” at a recent event.