For weeks, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. railed against the first presidential debate.
CNN, the debate’s host, determined that Kennedy had not qualified for the ballot in enough states to appear on stage. As their party’s presumptive nominees, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will qualify for the ballot later this summer. Kennedy’s campaign filed an FEC complaint against CNN and even threatened legal action against everyone at the company involved in debate planning.
But Kennedy may have won the debate without even showing up.
