Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday blasted the “monolithic media,” accusing the major media outlets of denying him the opportunity to appear on television to appeal to voters.
“My challenge is to convince the American people that I can win,” Kennedy said. He said in an interview Speaking with Fox’s Neil Cavuto on Friday, he said: “I have an entire monolithic media, so to speak, aligned with the Democratic National Committee, telling the American people every single day that I can’t win.”
Kennedy said in the interview that he has only been interviewed a few times by major networks, including ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, CNN and MSNBC, adding that Fox News is the only network that has consistently given him airtime.
“Ross Perot was on TV every night,” the defeated candidate said, referring to the independent who challenged former Presidents Clinton and George H. W. Bush in 1992. “Back then we didn’t have the party alignment that we have today. And that makes it very difficult.”
He added that “no beast of this kind has ever existed before.”
Kennedy has faced a number of negative headlines in recent months, including reports of sexual misconduct, reports over his decision to dump a dead bear cub in New York’s Central Park, a Vanity Fair article featuring him next to an animal that was believed to be a dog, and a New York Times article reporting that parasites had eaten part of his brain.
Each such report prompted Kennedy to accuse the media of unfair reporting.
“I thought it would be interesting for whoever discovered it,” Kennedy said in a video responding to the bear cub story. “Can’t wait to see what you make of this, @NewYorker.”
“Maybe that’s where my brain bugs come from,” he further joked.
These reports have caused Kennedy’s favorability and approval ratings to drop. Before Biden dropped out of the race in July, Kennedy had been enjoying double-digit approval ratings in most polls.
but, CBS Poll A survey of Kennedy, Vice President Harris, former President Trump and third-party candidates Jill Stein, Cornel West and Chase Oliver found that Kennedy received just 2 percent support.
A recent Wall Street Journal survey Found It received 4 percent support among a sample of registered voters.
Before Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris as his successor, Democrats worried Kennedy was taking support away from the candidate, but since Harris took over, polls suggest Kennedy is garnering more support from Trump.
According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ: Nationwide Voting IndexTrump has a 0.2 percentage point lead in head-to-head contests. It’s neck and neck with Harris, but when you factor in Kennedy, Harris has about a three point lead.
Kennedy has been a vocal critic of media coverage throughout his candidacy, including during the Democratic primary, when he told Fox News before switching to independent status that mainstream media outlets were treating him “unfairly” more than Trump.
“It’s interesting to me because I think President Trump has been criticized more than he’s ever been criticized by the mainstream media, the corporate media, on an unprecedented level,” Kennedy said.
Currently, Kennedy’s approval rating is at 3.4 percent in a national poll conducted by The Hill/DDHQ.
