RFK Jr. Answers Debate Questions in Parallel Event
Summary from the AllSides News Team
While CNN (Lean Left bias) hosted President Biden and former President Donald Trump for a debate in Atlanta on Thursday, Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to the same questions in real time from a studio in Los Angeles.
The Details: Kennedy’s event, dubbed “The Real Debate,” was moderated by libertarian media personality John Stossel, and unlike the CNN event, Kennedy’s event had a live audience. The event was livestreamed on X, and at one point jumped to 3.2 million viewers. In total, over 9 million viewers tuned in, the Kennedy campaign told Time Magazine (Lean Left bias).
For Context: Kennedy did not qualify for CNN’s debate and accused the network of colluding with Biden and Trump to keep him off the stage. Kennedy’s campaign believes that due to the nature of CNN’s debate qualifications, the network is in violation of federal election law. Stossel formerly worked as a journalist for ABC News (Lean Left bias) and Fox Business (Lean Right bias).
Key Quote: Kennedy opened his event by hitting out at CNN’s debate, saying, “This is something that’s important for our democracy because Americans feel like the system is rigged. This is exactly the kind of merger of state and corporate power that I’m running to oppose.”
How The Media Covered It: As of early Friday morning, AllSides did not find much mainstream coverage of Kennedy’s event. Associated Press (Lean Left bias) described Kennedy’s livestream as “unusual.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Robert Kennedy didn’t make the debate stage but he answered the same questions during a rival event![AllSides Media Bias Rating: Lean Left AllSides Media Bias Rating: Lean Left](https://www.allsides.com/sites/default/files/bias-leaning-left.png)
![](https://www.allsides.com/sites/default/files/styles/feature_image_300x200/public/image%20%284%29.jpg?itok=Imkmc4B-)
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wasn’t with his better-known rivals, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, when they debated Thursday in Atlanta.
But Kennedy responded in real time to the same questions — about inflation, the COVID-19 response and abortion — that were posed to Biden and Trump in an unusual livestream on the social platform X. Host John Stossell kept Kennedy’s answers to the same strict time constraints imposed on the other candidates.
Standing alone on a stage in Los Angeles, Kennedy opened his event, dubbed The Real Debate, by...
From the Left
Why the Biden-Trump Debate May Boost RFK Jr![AllSides Media Bias Rating: Lean Left AllSides Media Bias Rating: Lean Left](https://www.allsides.com/sites/default/files/bias-leaning-left.png)
On Thursday night, independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. stood alone on a stage in a small studio in Los Angeles answering the questions posed to his rivals at the first presidential debate 2,000 miles away in Atlanta.
A livestream behind the scenes showed dozens of people hooting, clapping, and chanting "Bobby!" from plastic chairs in a dark studio as Kennedy stood behind a lit-up blue podium with a screen behind him reading "The Real Debate." He faced Jon Stossel, a libertarian media personality, who served as a moderator of...
From the Right
In ‘The Real Debate,’ RFK Jr. Says Electing Biden or Trump Will Result in 4 More Years of ’the Same Stuff’![AllSides Media Bias Rating: Lean Right AllSides Media Bias Rating: Lean Right](https://www.allsides.com/sites/default/files/bias-leaning-right.png)
![](https://www.allsides.com/sites/default/files/styles/feature_image_300x200/public/c6f56b2bb29dd099ccd7015b37a0903d.jpg?itok=fEsKxVz4)
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will give Americans four more years of the same struggles while Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will implement change if he is elected, the independent presidential candidate said in his closing statement at “The Real Debate.”
Shut out of the CNN presidential forum in Atlanta, Mr. Kennedy held a forum in Los Angeles that was moderated by former ABC News and Fox Business Network journalist John Stossel.
Live streamed on X, Mr. Kennedy’s event took place in a studio with a live audience,...
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