By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM (Associated Press)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he has filed to run as a 2024 presidential candidate in Utah after assembly the 1,000-signature requirement wanted to look on the poll, marking the primary state the place the impartial candidate and outstanding anti-vaccine activist has certified.
Flanked by volunteers at a marketing campaign occasion Wednesday in Salt Lake City, Kennedy introduced he had filed for candidacy within the state that morning.
Utah is the primary state the place his marketing campaign submitted signatures and certified for poll entry, marketing campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear mentioned. She expects Arizona could also be subsequent.
Kennedy criticized the various boundaries to poll entry for candidates not backed by a significant political get together, saying the necessities in some states make it virtually unimaginable to problem the “chokehold” that Republicans and Democrats have over U.S. politics.
“This process is forcing us to build our army now,” he mentioned. “And we’re going to have a better army on the street and in the trenches in November 2024.”
A scion of one of many nation’s most well-known Democratic dynasties, the longtime environmental lawyer veered from the get together final fall and introduced his impartial bid for the White House. He is a son of former senator and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of Democratic President John F. Kennedy.
The candidate rose to prominence through the COVID-19 pandemic for his embrace of public well being conspiracy theories and has a loyal following of people that reject the scientific consensus that vaccines are protected and efficient.
His success at gaining poll entry in Utah reignites questions of whether or not the impartial might play spoiler for the eventual Democratic and Republican nominees. While it’s unlikely that an impartial or a third-party candidate would win the presidency, they may siphon help from the foremost candidates in a approach that ideas the scales.
Allies of each President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the doubtless nominees for his or her respective events, have questioned whether or not Kennedy might be a spoiler for his or her candidate. Both Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican, are unpopular amongst voters, growing the chance that third-party help might play a deciding position in 2024.
In an more and more polarized political local weather, Kennedy is enjoying the center, aligning with influential folks on the far proper whereas touting his background as an environmentalist.
It’s unclear in what number of states he’ll qualify for poll entry. Each state units its personal necessities, and the method for gathering signatures and navigating authorized hurdles may be pricey for candidates not backed by the foremost events.
American Values 2024, an excellent PAC supporting Kennedy, has pledged to spend as much as $15 million to assist him achieve poll entry in pivotal states. His success in Utah was made potential by a authorized victory within the lawsuit he and others filed final month to push again the state’s candidate submitting deadline.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine group has a lawsuit pending towards a variety of information organizations, amongst them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust legal guidelines by taking motion to establish misinformation, together with about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took go away from the group when he introduced his run for president however is listed as one in all its attorneys within the lawsuit.
The AP and the opposite information firms have requested a courtroom to dismiss the lawsuit.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”