Robert F Kennedy jnr, scion of the most famous family in Democratic politics in the United States, is to run for president as an independent candidate.
Mr Kennedy had been seeking the Democrat nomination to run for the White House. However, on Monday he said he would be “declaring independence from the Democratic Party” as well as from the Republicans and all other parties.
“I am here to declare myself an independent candidate for president of the United States,” he told an audience in Philadelphia.
Mr Kennedy said it was a very difficult and painful decision for him to let go of the Democratic Party of his father, his uncles, his grandfather and both of his great-grandfathers who launched the political dynasty more than 100 years ago.
He told the crowd that he stood before them free from any backroom deals and as “a servant of my conscience, my creator and you”.
He said there were a lot of quiet Americans who looked with disgust at the vitriol and the venom in politics in the US at present and wanted it to end.
Mr Kennedy said if elected as an independent candidate, it would be hard for people to determine whether his administration would be left wing or right wing. He also said he would work with people of both the Democratic and Republican parties.
He said there were good and honest people in both parties, including in the leadership, “but the system itself is hopelessly corrupt”.
“Let me tell you what an independent presidency would look like. Because I am independent of the military contractors, I will be able to pursue a foreign policy that puts peace and diplomacy first. Because I am independent of wealthy donors, I will be able to close the loopholes and giveaways that bloat our budget. Because I am independent of Wall Street, I will be able to rescue debtors instead of the banks during the next financial crisis. Because I am independent of big polluters, I will be able to clean up our soil, our waters and our air and our mountain majesty.”
Mr Kennedy is the nephew of president John F Kennedy and son of Robert F Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 while campaigning as part of his own bid for the White House.
Mr Kennedy had been averaging about 15 per cent in polls among Democrat voters – well behind current president Joe Biden, who seems set at this stage to comfortably secure his party’s nomination to run again in the election next year.
Mr Kennedy’s announcement on Monday that he will run as an independent raises the question as to how this will impact the overall presidential election.
Mr Kennedy is generally seen in Washington as a long-shot candidate, but in a contest where polls show a very close race between Mr Biden and former president Donald Trump – the likely Republican candidate at this stage – the number of votes going to any independent candidate could be crucial.
Although he was running as a Democrat, Mr Kennedy’s history of vaccine scepticism has won him support on the right. Some, but not all, polls suggested that Mr Kennedy was viewed more favourably by Republicans than by Democrats.
“The Democrats are frightened I am going to spoil the election for president Biden and the Republicans are frightened that I will spoil it for president Trump. The truth is, they are both right. My intention is to spoil it for both of them,” Mr Kennedy said.
