(NewsNation) — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recognized President Joe Biden‘s years of service and bashed Vice President Kamala Harris just hours after the president decided to abandon his reelection bid.
“I want to begin by commending President Biden for a career in public service, a long, long career in representing and serving our country and for his handling of many difficulties,” Kennedy said.
The president’s decision came after weeks of struggling to regain ground after a dismal debate performance on June 27 brought the issue of his mental acuity to the forefront. Biden has endorsed Harris as his choice for the 2024 Democratic nominee.
Kennedy quickly turned from support to disdain, calling Harris “monumentally unpopular with her own party” and claiming her potential leap to the presidential ballot is just a way to retain donors’ money.
He also criticized Harris’ track record in California, calling her fights to keep nonviolent criminals in jail a “modern version of indentured servitude.”
It’s not a new critique — as California’s attorney general, she said releasing those offenders would starve the state of their wildfire suppression work force, as reported by E&E News, which drew criticism from prison reform organizations and constituents alike.
The candidate also attacked the DNC, which he claims did not listen to his concerns about Biden’s ability to lead.
“A little over a year ago when I entered this race, I predicted that President Biden suffered from a degenerative problem that was not going to improve,” he said. “And that it would make it impossible for him to govern effectively.”
He claims the organization hid Biden’s condition and used their power over the nomination process “to make sure that nobody could compete with President Biden in a way that would expose his deficiencies.” Prior to the president’s exit from the race, White House officials stood by his health and denied any ongoing illnesses.
Kennedy claims the emergence of corporate power over democracy is the problem, starting with Citizens United in 2010, which “unleashed a tsunami of money” into the political process. The independent candidate believes both major parties have “lost any kind of authentic connection” to the people.
He also criticized both Trump and Biden for not addressing concerns he deems vital, like the national debt and America’s involvement in foreign wars.
“I think it’s fair to criticize President Trump and President Biden on their record. I think it’s better for the country to not feed into the vitriol and the anger and the division. I think we need to move beyond that,” he told NewsNation exclusively.
Biden’s announcement comes just weeks before delegates will formalize their nominee at Chicago’s Democratic National Convention.
