Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a testy exchange with The New York Times during an interview, calling the newspaper “an instrument of the Democratic Party” and accusing its journalism of propping up President Biden.
In an interview with "The Run-Up," the Times’ election podcast, the independent presidential candidate offered a sharp and unfounded critique of the outlet’s coverage bias after being asked about his potential status as a “spoiler” against Biden and former President Trump.
“Considering the reality of the stakes," host Astead Herndon asked Kennedy in the wide-ranging interview released Thursday, how he'd respond to someone who says he's "insulated" from a lot of the consequences of some elections due to his name, access and wealth.
“That in the same way that you think you’re acting on what you believe in," Herndon continued, "that it requires a certain level of privilege to do so without thinking about the possibility of being a spoiler. How would you respond?”
Kennedy pushed back at the premise of Herndon’s question, which asked the candidate who comes from a legacy political family to consider whether his prominent position factors into his thinking about shaking up the race.
Kennedy said he didn't understand the question, and that he has an organization "that we believe is better than any of the other political organizations" and that he is "surrounded" by people motivated by "very, very pure impulses because they love this country."
“I’m offering a vision to Americans that they’re not getting. Seventy percent of people in this country do not want a contest between Trump and Biden. Don’t you feel that those people should have an option?”
The environmental lawyer then accused the Times of gatekeeping coverage against a sizable portion of voters who disapprove of both Biden and Trump, and do not want to see either of them reelected to the White House.
“Isn’t that kind of a privileged position that you have, of taking the position that the New York Times is not going to allow those people, those Americans, who don’t want to see a rerun of this contest? Don’t you think they deserve something or are you going to sit there and say nobody should do that because I’m scared of this guy or I’m scared of that guy?”
In an attempt to steer Kennedy back to the original question, Herndon added context about the Times’ coverage of the 2024 race in relation to the current voting electorate.
“The reason that we have pressured Democrats about the way they have set up Biden and about Republicans about the way they have set up Trump is because of that very fact. Because of the fact that most Americans do not want these two options,” he said.
Kennedy shot back with a further criticism of the paper, accusing it without evidence of aligning with Democrats.
“The New York Times is essentially an instrument of the Democratic Party,” he argued.
“I understand you’re making an institutional argument,” Herndon responded.
Kennedy doubled down, alleging the outlet is part of the Democratic National Committee. “Aren’t you making institutional arguments against me since this started? You’re an instrument of the DNC,” he said. “And of course you’re going to try and get people. Your job, doing what you’re doing, is to try to spin this some way that is going to help Biden and hurt Trump and get rid of any threat to that.”
“An in the guardrails contrast that the New York Times approves of. And that’s just not right for our country and I’m not going to go along with it,” he added.
“I appreciate your time. And just so you know, that’s not what I’m here to do nor was that the question I was asking,” Herndon replied, defending his work against Kennedy's unfounded claims.
