Protesters in New York Blast CNN for Excluding Kennedy From the Debate

By Leah Watson, Breaking News Reporter, The Kennedy Beacon

“RFK, let him speak! CNN, don’t be weak!” chanted about 50 protesters outside the CNN building at Hudson Yards, New York, on June 21.

The rally, organized by Team Kennedy, began at 11 a.m., following CNN’s announcement that the scheduled debate with President Biden and former president Trump would exclude Kennedy. According to The Epoch Times, dozens of protesters also gathered in front of Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN, in Burbank, California. The paper reported on similar actions in San Francisco and Sacramento.

In New York, Hudson Yards security guards stood, arms crossed, as the protesters paraded around the CNN building, carrying banners and posters in the 90-degree weather. Although not everyone at the rally was a self-proclaimed Kennedy supporter, they were all in agreement on a fundamental point: Kennedy should be on the debate stage. 

“I think if he were on that debate stage … Americans would really take a look at him compared to the other two. I think he’d have a chance to win. Not just make a dent,” said Richard Darcy, a retired teacher from Stamford, Connecticut. 

The members of the rally were appalled that, once again, Kennedy is being deliberately suppressed by his opposition. They felt that given his place on the debate stage, he would talk about issues that aren’t often talked about and that truly affect Americans. 

“[Kennedy is] going to bring up topics that Trump or Biden will never bring up, like the 34 trillion dollar debt that both Trump and Biden created.… The chronic disease epidemic they won’t bring up because they’re in bed with the pharmaceutical industry.… They won’t talk about the inflation because they helped create it!” said Bradley Rauch.

Most importantly, Kennedy’s presence would increase the possibility for real and constructive conversation. According to another rally attendee, John Lewis, that is exactly what a debate should be. He believes that Americans want to hear different perspectives and are willing to be challenged on their ideas. Americans want a real debate where they’ll hear differing perspectives and a contest of ideas where the best argument wins. 

“If Bobby Kennedy gets to debate them, he will just provide so much more of a fresh perspective in the conversation. It will benefit everyone if he gets to speak,” said Nancy Powers.

Without Kennedy in the debate, some of the rally participants claimed they wouldn’t even bother tuning in. 

“I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in seeing a constructed ‘debate’ between Biden and Trump,” said Martha Rowen, miming quotation marks around the word debate. “I want to see a real debate where people will actually interact … and respond to questions and go back and forth.” 

“Why would I watch the debate?” asked another rally attendee, Joe Opalach. “[Trump and Biden] are basically the same party. They’re backed by the same corporate interests.”

Another attendee said he’d refrain from watching for other reasons. “I suspect that if I watch the debate, I’ll get nauseous,” said Rauch, a neurologist in New York City. “My specialty is brain function. It’s so clear that Biden is cerebrally challenged and getting worse.… I think it’s elder abuse!”

On June 11, a press release from the Kennedy campaign stated that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) “has now made clear that the phrase ‘presumptive nominee’ is ‘not in the FEC’s debate regulation.’” CNN has been steadfast in excluding Kennedy from the debate despite the fact that he is officially on the ballot and is eligible for more electoral votes than both Trump and Biden – who are only presumptive nominees. 

“After the FEC made it clear that their standards were bullshit, [CNN] just ignored it,” said Rowen. “It’s proof, if we needed any, that our elections have become a joke and a sham.”

Excluding Kennedy from CNN’s debate is also seen as a direct threat to American democracy. People feel they no longer have a voice, that they are just being corralled into supporting one of two candidates. Politics has been stripped away from citizens and now resides in the hands of corporations. 

“It’s scary just to know that we have fallen so far from our democratic values as a nation,” said Andres Criollo, who held a large Kennedy/Shanahan banner. Criollo believes CNN’s actions perfectly illustrate the level of corruption that is plaguing the country and stripping people of their rights and freedoms. If the corruption continues, he said, “we’re going to [reach] a turning point where we aren’t going to be able to take those rights back.”