Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to challenge former President Trump to have a formal debate with him at the upcoming Libertarian Party convention.
Kennedy, an independent who thought about joining the Libertarian Party after an unsuccessful attempt to become the Democratic nominee, wishes to confront Trump at the event taking place in Washington later this month.
“I’d like to propose something to you. We’ll both be speaking at the upcoming Libertarian convention on May 24 and 25,” Kennedy wrote in a lengthy post on X on Tuesday. “It’s the perfect neutral ground for you and me to have a debate where you can defend your record for your wavering supporters.”
“You yourself have mentioned that you’re not afraid to debate me if my poll numbers are good,” Kennedy wrote. “Well, they are. In fact, I’m the only presidential candidate in history who has polled ahead of both major party candidates in head-to-head races.”
Kennedy referred to data from Zogby, a polling and analytics firm, showing that the environmental lawyer wins the election over Trump in a two-candidate race, without factoring President Biden into the hypothetical matchup.
“So let’s meet in a couple of weeks and show the American public that at least two of the major candidates aren’t afraid to debate each other,” Kennedy added.
Kennedy has been pressuring both Trump and Biden to debate him recently, aiming to raise his stature and be on more equal footing with the mainstream presumptive nominees.
Republicans and Democrats doubt that a debate among two or more of the candidates with Kennedy will happen, noting Trump’s reluctance to debate this time and Biden’s equally non-committal approach.
The Libertarian event could potentially make things fairer for Kennedy and Trump as they both try to appeal to voters who are seen as harder to categorize by party and ideology.
Even though Kennedy considered switching parties again and had discussions with Libertarian officials and leaders about his third-party bid, he decided not to switch parties and is committed to continuing his independent campaign until he is on 50 state ballots. His campaign is currently verified in 10 states and expects to add more as new calendar deadlines approach.
