Poll: More than half of independent voters wanted RFK Jr. at debate

Robert Kennedy Jr. was forced to hold a solo event on Thursday night as Donald Trump went head-to-head with Joe Biden, but more than half of independent voters said he should have been allowed to join the top candidates on the debate stage. RFK Jr. failed to meet the criteria for the debate, falling short of the 15 percent polling threshold and state ballot access required by CNN, which hosted the event. 

But a J.L. Partners poll of 805 independent voters who watched the presidential clash found that 55 percent thought he should have been on the stage. Only 22 percent said he should not have been there. The results will provide a lift to Kennedy, an environmental lawyer with an anti-vaccine message, who is running as an alternative to the two main candidates.

But his absence from the debate stage is a massive blow to a candidate who needs low-cost ways to get in front of as many voters as possible. His campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing CNN and the two main candidates of breaking election law. His supporters will see an irony in Kennedy being excluded.

Biden struggled badly in Thursday's debate, triggering a frantic bout of soul searching among Democrats wondering if he was still their best hope of stopping Trump from returning to power. 'While traditionally third party candidates are squeezed as polling day approaches, the level of dissatisfaction with the two main candidates gives Robert F. Kennedy Jr. room to make a sizeable impact,' said Joe Alder, senior research associate at J.L. Partners.

'As a measure of that desire for an alternative, 55 percent of independents who watched the debate said RFK should have been there to take part – with just 22 percent disagreeing.' In the immediate aftermath, Kennedy, 70, said the debate would have left most Americans 'depressed.' Poll after poll from the beginning, from last summer ... shows that I'm the only one who can beat President Trump,' he told News Nation.

'Head to head with President Trump, I beat him and head to head with President Biden, I beat him in a landslide.' Kennedy tried to keep himself relevant by responding in real time on Thursday to the same questions that were posed to Biden and Trump. The CNN debate was shown on a giant screen behind Kennedy's lectern on a stage in Los Angeles. Biden and Trump were paused as Kennedy rattled off answers on inflation, the COVID-19 response and abortion.

'This is something that’s important for our democracy because Americans feel like the system is rigged,' he said in his opening remarks. 'This is exactly the kind of merger of state and corporate power that I'm running to oppose.' The poll revealed a devastating verdict for Biden, whose performance was marked by a hoarse voice, meandering answers, non sequiturs and silences as he looked all of his 81 years. Some 62 percent of respondents said he should be dumped from the Democratic ticket.

Trump, 78, was able to land his punches while his Democratic opponent struggled to push back on some of his more outlandish claims. 'I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence,' he said after Biden delivered a word salad about the border. 'I don't think he knows what he said either.'

It shifted the focus away from convicted felon Trump, who had to be asked three times whether he would accept the results of the 2024 election, to Biden. A string of high profile liberals said it was time for him to step aside. 'Guys, the Dems should nominate someone else — before it's too late,' Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden for the 2020 Democratic nomination.

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