Trump says he’d have ‘no problem’ having RFK Jr. on debate stage if he meets threshold

Former President Trump said he would have “no problem” with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joining the presidential debate stage with President Biden, if the independent candidate meets the threshold to participate.

“I would have no problem if he got whatever the threshold is,” Trump said in an interview Thursday with Scripps News.

“But he’s very low and seems to be heading in the other direction, in the wrong direction,” Trump continued.

Trump and President Biden announced Wednesday they have agreed to participate in two head-to-head presidential debates, one hosted by CNN on June 27 and another hosted by ABC on Sept. 10.

CNN announced that in order to participate, candidates must meet a set of requirements, including having their names appear on enough ballots to theoretically reach the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidency. Candidates must also receive at least 15 percent support in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters that meet CNN’s specified standards.

Polling eligibility opened March 13 and closes seven days before the date of the debate.

Earlier Thursday, Trump accused President Biden of not wanting Kennedy to participate in the debate, noting they share some policy views.

“I don’t care if Junior’ joins the Debate, but right now his polling numbers are very low, he is not properly qualified in the States, and he seems to be on a downward path. Junior’ needs more than his name to get on the ‘stage!’” Trump said Thursday on Truth Social.

Kennedy says his campaign has garnered enough signatures to qualify for the ballots in 14 states, most recently announcing he reached the number of signatures to qualify for the ballot in Texas.

Kennedy railed against the decision to keep him out of the debate this week, saying Wednesday on the social platform X, “Presidents Trump and Biden are colluding to lock America into a head-to-head match-up that 70% say they do not want.”

“They are trying to exclude me from their debate because they are afraid I would win. Keeping viable candidates off the debate stage undermines democracy,” he wrote.

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