Topline
Third-party and independent presidential candidates including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Jill Stein failed to meet the requirements to be on CNN’s debate stage Thursday night—but the candidates who say they were “locked out” from participating have made their own arrangements to be involved in the debate.
Key Facts
Kennedy, who is running as an independent with Nicole Shanahan, announced Tuesday he will be airing the “Real Debate” live on X, formerly known as Twitter, and therealdebate.com at 9 p.m. EDT—the same time as CNN’s debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
The “Real Debate” will be hosted by John Stossel and feature Kennedy answering the same debate questions as Biden and Trump in real time, he said in the announcement video, adding: “I’m going to be on that debate stage with or without their permission.”
Kennedy will also be on NewsNation—which plans to stream his live responses—following the CNN event to “to answer questions and respond to the Biden-Trump debate.”
Green Party candidate Jill Stein will be live tweeting during the debate and is hosting a Live Debate Response at 10:30 p.m. EDT, after the debate, on X, Facebook and YouTube.
Stein’s team said while “CNN and the Biden and Trump campaigns locked Jill out of this sham ‘debate’ … they can’t silence her voice for people, planet, and peace.”
Cornel West, who is also running as an independent, will be participating in a post-debate debrief on theGrio—a media network with news focused on the African American community—his campaign told Forbes.
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Why Didn’t Rfk Jr. Make The Cnn Debate Stage?
To make it to the debate stage, CNN required candidates to have at least 15% support in four separate, national CNN-approved polls and qualify for the ballot in enough states that it would be possible to secure the 270 Electoral College votes required to win the presidency. Kennedy only received 15% support in three polls ahead of the deadline, and was only on the ballot in six states that gave him a total of 89 Electoral College votes, the Associated Press reported.
News Peg
CNN’s debate airs Thursday at 9 p.m. EDT and will be moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. The debate will not have an audience—breaking from tradition from past debates—and both candidates will stand at podiums. Candidates’ microphones will be muted when they are not speaking, and they are not allowed to interact with their staff during commercial breaks.
Big Number
55%. That’s how many Americans in a PBS News/Marist poll from earlier this month said they are not satisfied with the two major party presidential candidates.
Key Background
Trump and Biden agreed in May to debate after months of uncertainty on whether the pair of presidents would take the stage together. Biden and Trump both accepted CNN’s offer to host the first debate, and agreed to a second debate hosted by ABC News in September. Biden and Trump were supposed to debate three times in 2020, though they only did twice as Trump refused to participate in the second debate after the Commission on Presidential Debates said it would be hosted virtually. The commission is not involved in the 2024 debates. The two are expected to touch on a number of issues Thursday night, including immigration, abortion, the economy and legal troubles the former president has faced.
