This weekend at the Libertarian Party Convention in Washington, D.C., rubber squeaking chickens were handed out to invite former President Trump to a debate with independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
I saw a rubber chicken with the words “Debate Bobby” written on it. Multiple medicalIoutlet At the weekend convention, Trump was greeted by raucous crowds and a mix of boos and cheers.
Tony Lyons, co-chair of the pro-Kennedy super PAC American Values 2024, Confirmed by CNN The group reportedly handed out rubber chickens to attendees on Saturday, and The Hill has reached out to the super PAC and the Kennedy campaign for further comment.
In one Video of President Trump’s speech on SaturdayA member of the audience was seen holding up a rubber silhouette of a chicken.
CNN reported that Secret Service agents confiscated some of the rubber chickens before Trump’s speech.
Nate Herring, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, told The Hill that the agency frequently publishes lists of prohibited items that are not allowed to be brought into secure areas.
“The list includes several specific items that are prohibited from being brought into the secure area, but also includes a general prohibition of items that agents, in their discretion, determine may pose a safety hazard or disrupt the event,” Herring said in a statement.
Both Trump and Kennedy spoke at the convention in an effort to shore up support for the Libertarian Party ahead of November.
Kennedy began calling for Trump to hold a formal debate at the convention earlier this month, calling the convention a “perfect neutral venue” for both presidential candidates.
“You yourself said that if my approval rating was high enough, you wouldn’t be afraid to debate me,” Kennedy wrote in a lengthy post on the social platform X earlier this month. “Well, I wouldn’t be afraid. In fact, I am the only presidential candidate in history to have outperformed candidates from both major parties in a head-to-head matchup.”
Biden and Trump, the presumptive nominees of their respective parties, have already agreed to hold two general election debates, but Kennedy has not taken part in either.
But to meet the threshold for the debates, a candidate would need to receive 15 percent support in four national polls and be on the ballot in enough states to secure a hypothetical 270 electoral votes.
Kennedy argued that being excluded from the two general election debates “undermines democracy,” writing that “President Trump and President Biden are conspiring to lock America into a head-to-head confrontation that 70% of people do not want.”
Trump said he would have “no problem” inviting Kennedy to debate Biden if he met the conditions.
Neither the Kennedy nor Trump campaigns immediately responded to The Hill’s requests for comment.
The environmental lawyer, who became an independent after running unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary last fall, argues that the party’s presumptive nominees are unfit to continue in office.
While Trump is trying to square Biden and Trump in all 50 states’ votes, political strategists predict he probably only needs to win a handful of states to create a “jamming” effect.
Most recent national polls suggest that Kennedy could do more damage to Biden’s approval ratings than Trump’s in a hypothetical general election scenario.
Kennedy remains well behind Biden and Trump with about 8.3% of the vote, compared with about 41.8% for Trump and 40.1% for Biden, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polling index.
Kennedy spoke at the convention a day before Trump, repeatedly attacking the former president over his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Updated at 5:27pm.
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