Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly intends to leave behind the party closely tied with his family name and run as an independent in 2024. According to Mediaite, Kennedy will make the announcement on Oct. 9 in Philadelphia along with “attack ads” against the Democratic National Committee. A campaign insider told the outlet that the DNC “is changing the rules to exclude his candidacy” following his promotion of fringe conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine views. This may not come as a surprise as he has made it public that he would keep his options open with a third-party challenge to President Joe Biden. The New York Times reported last week that he met privately with Angela McArdle, the chair of the Libertarian Party at a Memphis conference in July. The Times also mentioned that Democrats were concerned about Kennedy taking away votes from Biden, but it remains unknown whether the same could be said for former President Donald Trump. An Augus poll by The New York Times/Siena College said that 55 percent of Republicans had a “somewhat or very favorable impression” of him compared to 23 percent of Democrats.
