'Your institutions have made themselves government mouthpieces and stenographers for the organs of power,' Kennedy tells reporters
RFK, Jr. torches media censorship as he ends presidential campaign
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspends his presidential campaign and endorses former President Trump.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lit into liberal "media organs" of the Democratic Party in his remarks suspending his campaign on Friday, accusing them of essentially colluding with the party to stifle him and create a veneer of popularity for nominee Kamala Harris.
"Over the course of more than a year … the DNC-aligned mainstream media networks maintained a near-perfect embargo on interviews with me," he said. "During his 10-month presidential campaign in 1992, Ross Perot gave 34 interviews on mainstream networks. In contrast, during the 16 months since I declared, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, and CNN combined gave only two live interviews [with] me. Those networks instead ran a continuous deluge of hit pieces with inaccurate, often vile pejoratives and defamatory smears. Some of those same networks colluded with the DNC to keep me off the debate stage."
Kennedy, the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated, also said his famous Democratic family members would have been "astonished" to learn Harris had not done a single interview or "unscripted encounter with voters" in the nearly five weeks she's been leading the party.
"This is profoundly undemocratic. How are people to choose when they don’t know whom they are choosing, and how can this look to the rest of the world?" he asked. "My father and my uncle were always conscious of America’s image abroad, because of our nation’s role as the template for democracy, a role model for democratic processes, and the leader of the free world. Instead of showing us her substance and character, the DNC and its media organs engineered a surge of popularity for Vice President Harris based upon, well, nothing.
"No policies, no interviews, no debates, only smoke and mirrors and balloons in a highly produced Chicago circus."
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his campaign on Friday and endorsed Donald Trump for president. (Getty Images)
Harris rapidly ascended to the Democratic nomination after President Biden, under intense pressure from party leaders, stepped aside from the 2024 race last month and endorsed his vice president. The party coalesced quickly around Harris, who formally accepted the nomination on Thursday.
Kennedy launched his long-shot campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in April of last year, but by October the 70-year-old candidate had switched to an independent run for the White House.
Kennedy scolded press members at his speech to consider their "really sacred responsibility" to challenge the party in power, which he accused of systematically keeping him from fairly challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination.
Kennedy also lambasted his former political party as one that "abandoned democracy" and was now a party of "war, censorship, corruption" and major pharmaceutical and tech companies.
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"In an honest system, I believe that I would have won the election," he said. "I no longer believe that I have a realistic past of electoral victory in the face of this relentless, systematic censorship and media control."
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, United States on August 19, 2024. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Spokespersons for ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and MSNBC didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on Kennedy's accusations that they colluded against them.
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Kennedy specifically addressed representatives of their outlets who were on hand for his comments.
"Your institutions have made themselves government mouthpieces and stenographers for the organs of power. You didn’t alone cause the devolution of American democracy, but you could have prevented it," Kennedy said.
Kennedy has sunk in the polls from the double digits earlier this summer to an average of around 4 percent in recent surveys. Whether his backing of Trump will provide a boon to the Republican ticket remains to be seen, but even a gain of one or two percentage points could be decisive in battleground states.
Trump welcomed the endorsement while speaking Friday in Las Vegas, thanking Kennedy and calling him "respected by everybody."
The DNC was unconcerned, telling Fox News Digital, "Good riddance."
Asked for comment, the Harris campaign said that any American who was tired of Trump and "looking for a new way forward" could come to her team.
"In order to deliver for working people and those who feel left behind, we need a leader who will fight for you, not just for themselves, and bring us together, not tear us apart. Vice President Harris wants to earn your support," a spokesperson said. "Even if we do not agree on every issue, Kamala Harris knows there is more that unites us than divides us: respect for our rights, public safety, protecting our freedoms, and opportunity for all."
