RFK Jr. vows to pursue bid to end in ’24

IRVING, Texas — At his first campaign stop since announcing he would be running for president as an independent, Robert F. Kennedy

Jr. on Wednesday vowed to see his long-shot bid to the end in November 2024, saying he aims to “take votes away from both” the Democratic and Republican nominees.

In a 50-minute speech at the Dallas College North Lake Campus, Kennedy, 69, railed against big business and the pharmaceutical industry and presented himself as a pragmatic alternative to President Joe Biden and the Republican front-runner, former President Donald Trump.

The country’s political leaders, Kennedy said, are not focused on issues affecting everyday Americans. He criticized decisions surrounding funding in Ukraine and the focus on “culture war” issues in the most recent Republican debate.

“I’m seeing people who feel like the whole system is rigged against them,” Kennedy told the crowd of about 150.

He said, “There’s plenty Republicans, as there are independents and Democrats, and it’s just people who are just fed up.”

Supporters who came to see Kennedy speak represented a wide range of the political spectrum.

Jacquelyn Brown, 61, described herself as a moderate Republican but said “both sides kind of lost me.” Brown, of Flower Mound, said she intended to vote for Kennedy in

2024 no matter how improbable his chances of attaining the presidency might seem.

Others were noncommittal on Kennedy’s candidacy but said they came to see him because they admired his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and father, Robert F. Kennedy.

“I was an enthusiastic supporter of JFK,” said Lucinda Bassili, 72. RFK Jr. has denounced the U.S. military’s presence abroad, a message Bassili said resonated with her.

But next November, she said, she is not sure whether Kennedy would earn her vote.

“There are people who don’t like Biden,” Bassili said. “I’m not one of those.”

Kennedy’s campaign as an independent, which he announced in Philadelphia on Monday, has attracted criticism from Democrats and Republicans who see him as a spoiler candidate without a realistic shot of winning the White House, siphoning away votes from the eventual Republican or Democratic nominees.

Members of Kennedy’s own family have denounced his candidacy. Four of his siblings said in a statement on Monday that they “believe it to be perilous for our country.”