Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be considered for the Libertarian Party nomination when the party’s delegates vote to choose their presidential candidate on Sunday.
Kennedy, who spoke at the party’s national convention in Washington, D.C., on Friday, was nominated by a delegate on Sunday on the convention floor, where his candidacy was met with boos from other delegates.
Donald Trump was also nominated on the convention floor Sunday, but Libertarian Party Chairwoman Angela McArdle ruled the former president was ineligible because he did not file nomination papers. Trump spoke on Saturday at the conventionwhere he was booed loudly and consistently, especially when he asked attendees to “nominate me or at least vote for me.”
Kennedy accepted the nomination in a brief video statement in which he thanked party members for the “unexpected honor.” He said he hopes libertarians will join “an alliance” of independent and third-party voters to help his campaign defeat President Joe Biden and Trump.
“I am very grateful to the Libertarian Party for this great honor and I look forward to a nationwide alliance, a fusion alliance of all these independent parties that are now challenging the corrupt Republican-Democratic duopoly,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy’s video was met with light applause by a small group of delegates. His replacements, who gave speeches publicizing his libertarian candidacy before his acceptance, were met with boos from the public.
Kennedy told CNN last week that he did not intend to seek the party’s nomination at this weekend’s convention.
Tim O’Brien, a libertarian delegate from New Jersey, said he felt Kennedy was trying to use the party for his own benefit without respecting its values.
“We have already had a lot of people enter the party, they will run away, they will make noise and then they will leave. And I guarantee you, he can come here; he won’t be here after the election,” O’Brien said.
“We want people willing to say in full force, ‘We’re libertarians, we’re going to stand with you,’” he added. “He doesn’t need us. He wants to gain access to the polls.
Kennedy, a former Democrat, began courting libertarian authorities even before leaving his party to run as an independent, meeting with McArdle in July and February to discuss their shared beliefs.
The Libertarian ticket was seen as a possible way for Kennedy to bypass obstacles to access to the polls and take advantage of the party’s access to the ballot box in dozens of states. Kennedy is on the ballot in six states so far, compared to 38 states for the Libertarians.
Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahantold CNN before her speech on Sunday that the Libertarian Party is “more relevant than ever” and that she hopes Libertarians work together with Kennedy.
“I think we have a lot in common, and I think there’s a lot of overlap here, and I think there’s a great possibility of success if we work together,” said the Silicon Valley lawyer and entrepreneur. Shanahan’s comments mark the first time she has responded to questions from a major media outlet since joined the Kennedy campaign in March.
Kennedy told CNN last week after a rally in Colorado that his views on the environment, foreign policy and Covid-19 will appeal to libertarian voters.
“My approach is a free market approach, which appeals to libertarians,” he said. “I am against war, which I consider to be another important issue for Libertarians. I support constitutional rights. President Trump has dismantled our constitutional rights during Covid. So I think libertarians will probably be more inclined to support me if they follow their philosophies.”
In recent weeks, Trump and Kennedy have intensified their attacks on each other, as the independent’s candidacy for the White House is increasingly seen by the former president’s advisers as a potential problem in an election expected to be decided by a narrow margin in a handful of states.
Kennedy’s support in national polls reached double digits – 16% in one CNN poll conducted last month by SSRS – with strong indications that it is diverting support from both Trump and Biden.
As the threat crystallized, so did Trump’s attacks on Kennedy. The former president now regularly attacks Kennedy in public comments and on social media. Earlier this month, Trump released a lengthy video that labeled Kennedy a “Democrat factory.”
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Steve Contorno and Jack Forrest contributed to this report.
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