By Raul Castillo
03 Apr 2024, 18:11 PM EDT
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. denied saying that Joe Biden was a worse threat to US democracy than Donald Trump and blamed CNN, the television network where he gave the remarks, for cutting the interview to make him “look crazy to liberals.”
“President Biden is a much worse threat to democracy,” Kennedy told CNN on Tuesday, sparking criticism and appearing on several media portals. “And the reason is that President Biden is the first candidate in history, the first president in history to use federal agencies to censor political speech.”
However, on Tuesday night the independent candidate attempted to clarify his statements in another interview on Chris Cuomo’s NewsNation program.
“What I said was that I can make this argument, and I didn’t say definitively whether I thought one or the other was more dangerous to democracy,” he said, as reported by The Hill. “I said I don’t think any of them are going to destroy democracy.”
CNN cut his appointments, he says
And he added further criticism of CNN, saying they cut quotes to make it appear he was giving a definitive statement about Biden.
“By the way, I am very grateful to Erin Burnett. As you know, CNN hasn’t let me attend a live interview in a decade. And she did it: she was very, very brave. She gave me a very fair interview; I was really flabbergasted by how fair she was. She rejected me a lot and obviously she doesn’t agree with me on some things, but she actually let me talk, which was… I’m grateful for it,” she stated.
He added: “When CNN Digital received it, they cut my quote to make it look like I was making this definitive statement that Biden was a bigger threat to democracy than Trump. But of course, I never said that. But this is how he made me look crazy to liberals.”
Criticism for the statements
As soon as the interview aired on CNN, Kennedy Jr. was harshly criticized by his rivals, particularly the Democratic National Committee.
“With a straight face, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Joe Biden is a bigger threat to democracy than Donald Trump because he was banned from promoting conspiracy theories online,” said Democratic National Committee senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill. “There is no comparison to calling a mob to the Capitol and promising to be a dictator from day one.”
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tonight dispelled any doubt that he is a spoiler candidate by pushing his MAGA talking points into prime time,” the Democrat added.
Keep reading:
- Kennedy Jr.’s sister says she’s worried her brother is taking votes away from Biden
- Robert F. Kennedy promised to return the United States to the path of peace that his uncle led if he is elected president
- Kennedy Jr. chooses lawyer Nicole Shanahan as his vice presidential candidate: Who is she?