Properly, that was quick.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s short-lived try and develop into the Libertarian nominee for president flamed out even sooner than it began, as he obtained assist from a paltry 19 delegates, or 2.07%, on the occasion’s DC conference Sunday, sending him dwelling within the first spherical.
Earlier within the day, Kennedy, 70, was unexpectedly nominated from the conference flooring by a delegate, the announcement swiftly drawing waves of boos from the gang in what grew to become a harbinger of his embarrassing exhibiting.
On Friday, he delivered a gloves-off speech to conference delegates by which he ripped former President Donald Trump, 77, for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic and failing to pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange or anti-surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden throughout his administration.
Trump’s identify was additionally put forth on the conference flooring to be the occasion’s normal bearer, however the notion was rapidly extinguished by Libertarian Get together Chair Angela McArdle, who declared him ineligible as a result of he did not submit nominating papers.
Trump spoke before the raucous delegates Saturday afternoon, enduring boos blended with “We would like Trump” chants, which reached a zenith when he urged the gang to appoint him.
Because the jeers and cheers rang out, the previous president tagged his request for the nomination with, “Solely if you wish to win. Possibly you don’t wish to win.”
He went on to obtain six delegate votes as a write-in candidate. One delegate, in a snide reference to Trump’s ongoing NYC hush cash trial, wrote in “Stormy Daniels,” the grownup movie star whose alleged trysts with the ex-commander in chief have been the catalyst for this spherical of his authorized woes.
Below conference guidelines, candidates who obtained lower than 5% of the vote have been knocked out of rivalry within the first spherical.
Kennedy had been assembly with Libertarian Get together officers since final summer time, partially hoping to experience their poll coattails in November. The eventual Libertarian candidate shall be on the poll in 38 states, in comparison with simply six for Kennedy to date.
Kennedy, a former Democrat who left the occasion in October to hunt the nomination for president as an impartial, received 14% support in a latest Quinnipiac College nationwide ballot of registered voters this week.
Nevertheless, that very same ballot confirmed his supporters have been way more more likely to abandon him than another candidate between now and Election Day.
