Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has less than 24 hours to qualify for CNN debate

Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has less than 24 hours to qualify for the first presidential debate of the 2024 election campaign in the United States, and a lawsuit filed with the agency that oversees the elections may be his only hope.

A CNN will broadcast the debate on June 27, after President Joe Biden of the Democratic Party and his Republican rival, Donald Trump, agreed to the confrontation last month. The deadline for candidates to qualify for the debate is midnight, local time, this Wednesday (19).

Kennedy filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in May alleging that the presidential debate CNN amounts to a large prohibited campaign contribution to Biden and Trump because the media company “illegally” required Kennedy to meet “different criteria” to participate in the debate.

The campaign requested that the FEC take action by Thursday (20) and prevent the CNNBiden and Trump from holding the debate on June 27 until they “come into compliance with the Federal Election Campaign Act,” according to the complaint.

The commission declined to comment for this story. The agency, beset by political division, recently struggled to decide on the use of artificial intelligence in the 2024 campaign and has not ruled on related issues in recent elections, according to experts.

This election cycle presents an almost unprecedented situation. Since 1960, when the era of televised presidential debates began, it will be the first time that news organizations – first to CNNnext week, and ABC, which will host a debate in September – will fully control the terms and parameters of the debates between the candidates.

Previously, the Commission on Presidential Debates sponsored them.

A CNN said candidates eligible to participate must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to meet the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the election and receive at least 15% support in four separate national polls.

Shortly after the debate was announced, Kennedy and his campaign complained. Kennedy claimed that Biden and Trump “are trying to exclude me from the debate because they are afraid I will win.”

On Saturday, the CNN said it is “not impossible” that Kennedy could qualify, but that he has not yet met the criteria. He has received at least 15% in three polls so far and has qualified for the ballot in six states, making him eligible for 89 Electoral College votes, the agency said. CNN.

The Kennedy campaign declined to comment further for this article. It is in the midst of an aggressive operation to gain access to electoral ballots across the US, with $15 million raised in the process.

Biden and Trump, as the likely nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively, qualify because most states automatically allow them access to ballots without needing to petition, a spokesperson for the Biden administration said. CNN.