(NewsNation) — Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in his real-time response to the first presidential debate featuring President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, took the opportunity to showcase his blend of conservative and liberal policies.
The candidate’s livestream, which at one point had more than 5 million viewers, came after he was left out of the CNN debate — a fact that he criticized in his opening statements. He called the network’s move “troubling” and said that was an example of why “Americans believe the system is rigged against them.” He also thanked Elon Musk for his “courage” to broadcast his livestream on X.
The high number of viewers on his broadcast reflect a voter interest in a third option and he used the opportunity to hammer both Biden and Trump on their policies and age.
“We’ll never deal with inflation if we don’t deal with the money-printing problem,” he said, referring to Biden and Trump’s economic policies, accusing both of running up a deficit.
In his bid to voters, Kennedy said neither Trump nor Biden were running on issues that are critical to Americans.
If voters want to “vote out of hope, they will vote for me,” he said.
Here’s a look at some more of what he said:
Abortion
On the topic of abortion and the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, Kennedy said he believed abortion should be the choice of the woman. He believed state intervention should not happen until a fetus reaches viability and did not support late-term abortions.
However, he also said he felt that “every abortion is a tragedy” and that most women have abortions because they can’t afford to have the child. If elected, he pledged to put money into child care, which he said would stop abortions.
“My policy is more choices, fewer abortions.”
Border
The candidate said he felt the U.S.-Mexico border must be sealed.
Kennedy agreed with Trump when it comes to border protection, saying that Biden stopped the construction of the wall and dismantled other security measures leading to mass border crossings.
He said he interviewed people coming through, and only two people had asylum claims, which made him concerned about terrorists coming into the country. He also blasted Biden’s “catch and release” policies.
He also mirrored Trump, saying the U.S. is in a crisis with “undocumented immigrants” and that the immigration policy is “being run by the Sinaloa drug cartel” because they are able to send whoever they want to the border and they then get “a ticket to wherever they want.”
He blamed Democrats for letting immigrants into the country out of compassion but called it a delusion, claiming there were immigrants on the streets and taking up parks where American children can no longer play.
Ukraine and Israel
The independent candidate slammed Biden for the Ukraine war, saying Biden wanted to “weaken Russia,” which is why he did not pull out of support for the war in Ukraine.
“Putin was asking to settle this war from the beginning,” he said.
Meanwhile, on the conflict in the Middle East, RFK Jr. said the U.S. “must support Israel” above all else. Kennedy said he was “heartbroken” over “bloodshed in Gaza” but that we must understand that “Israel is in an existential battle.”
He said Israel was under attack on multiple fronts and that the U.S. must support the nation because it is “the only democracy in the Middle East,” He said that if he was president, he would have used more “diplomacy from the beginning” when it comes to the violence in Gaza.
When asked if he believes in a Palestinian state, Kennedy said that “has to be decided by Israel and Palestine.”
He also criticized NATO, saying it is sucking money from the U.S. so that it could “police” the rest of the world. He said that if he is president, he will change the function of NATO so it becomes an “instrument of peace.”