Video above: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits Kiva Auditorium in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Saturday, June 15, as part of his campaign activities. Kennedy premiered “Recovering America.” He believes the new documentary will reveal “the most promising solutions to the nation's drug addiction crisis.” In the film, Kennedy also talks about his journey to recovery. Kennedy spoke to KOAT on Thursday, June 27, in Atlanta, about qualifying to run for the first time in the 2024 presidential election, and why he's confident he'll win the presidential election. Faith Egbuonu: As an independent presidential candidate, what impact do you think you can have on this election? Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: My intended impact is to win the election and become president of the United States. And I would be able to have a big impact because I'm going to address issues that neither President Biden nor President Trump can address, like our $34 trillion national debt. We're spending more money on the military budget right now. We are now spending more money to pay off the debt. Our military budget, for every dollar we collect within five years, $0.50 goes in taxes to pay off that debt, 100% within 10 years. This is an existential problem. President Trump and President Biden cannot solve this problem because they have allowed most of that debt to balloon in their respective administrations. $8 trillion each. And, you know, all of the other problems, the division of the country, the polarization, the epidemic of chronic disease, the addiction to war, the corrupt fusion of state and corporate power that they have led, are problems that I can solve. So my impact is immense. Faith Egbuonu: Have you qualified to appear in the presidential debate this month in Atlanta? Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: I have been qualified by CNN to appear in the presidential debate. We are suing to get on stage. We believe that if CNN were to hold the debate without me, it would be in violation of Federal Election Commission laws on illegal campaign finance.”Neither Republicans nor Democrats seem to be attracted to candidates this year. New Mexico has a history of being open to considering non-traditional candidates, so it's likely to be attractive to Kennedy,” Dr. Corey Scala, a political science professor at New Mexico State University, told KOAT. Dr. Scala, an assistant professor of political science at New Mexico State University, told KOAT that Kennedy is leaning into urgent issues worth highlighting in New Mexico. “He clearly thinks he has an opportunity to steal votes in New Mexico. How could his visit affect the presidential election? When you have a long shot candidate like Kennedy, you have to go everywhere, even places that the major parties take for granted,” Dr. Scala told KOAT. “Kennedy has a couple of issues to highlight in New Mexico. A big one that stands out is the Native American community. Kennedy has made justice for Native American communities one of his major policy platforms, which neither Trump nor Biden have. His website has a video of him visiting Standing Rock during the 2016 pipeline protests, and he's trying to show that this isn't a new effort to get votes. And if you look at Kennedy's visit to New Mexico today, he's in Albuquerque for the premiere of a new documentary he made about the drug epidemic in America. Again, this is an issue that's hitting New Mexico particularly hard,” Dr. Scala said. “Politically, this is an example of Kennedy trying to differentiate himself from Trump and Biden. If you just play the game that the major candidates are playing, you're going to lose because you're playing at a disadvantage. If you're an independent candidate like Kennedy and you want to tackle big, powerful issues like the two-party system, that's a mistake. “To change the system, you have to do something different,” Dr. Scala said. “So what everyone's trying to figure out right now is whether his candidacy could do more damage to Trump or Biden, but there's really no clear answer as to which side Kennedy is attracting votes from,” Dr. Scala told KOAT. “Well, I don't think either party is overly worried about Kennedy actually winning. Both parties have been hinting for months now that Kennedy running could be a disadvantage to them in November.” Stay up to date: The latest headlines on KOAT Action 7 News Kennedy took part in a panel discussion with others shortly after the premiere of his new film. The panel was moderated by Dr. Drew Pinsky, a board-certified physician in internal medicine and addiction medicine. Get the latest news with the KOAT app. You can download it here.
Video above: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited Kiva Auditorium in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Saturday, June 15, as part of a campaign stop. Kennedy premiered “Recovering America,” a new documentary he believes reveals “the most promising solutions to the nation's drug addiction crisis.” In the film, Kennedy also discusses his own journey to recovery.
Kennedy told KOAT on Thursday, June 27, that he has qualified to run in the first 2024 presidential election in Atlanta, and explained why he believes he will win the presidential election.
Faith Egbuonu: As an independent presidential candidate, how do you think you could impact this election?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: My intention is to win the election and become President of the United States. And I will have a big impact because I will address the problems that neither President Biden nor President Trump can address, including our $34 trillion national debt. We are now spending more on our military budget. We are now spending more on debt service. Our military budget will have $0.50 of every dollar we collect in 5 years going to debt service, 100% of it in 10 years.
This is an existential problem. President Trump and President Biden cannot address this problem because they accumulated most of that debt in their respective administrations — $8 trillion each. And, you know, all the other problems they presided over — the division of the country, the polarization, the epidemic of chronic disease, our addiction to war, our corrupt fusion of state and corporate power — are problems that I can solve, and I do solve. So my impact would be enormous.
Faith Egbuonu: you, [first] Presidential debate in Atlanta this month?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: We were qualified by CNN to be in the presidential debates. We are suing to get on stage. We believe CNN will break FEC rules. [Federal Election Commission] If they held a debate without me, illegal campaign finance laws would be put into effect.
Dr. Corey Scala, Professor of Political Science at NMSU, explains:
“Republicans and Democrats alike don't seem to be attracted to candidates this year. New Mexico has a history of being open to considering non-traditional candidates, which could make it attractive to Kennedy,” Dr Kennedy said. Scala told KOAT.
Dr. Corey Scala, an assistant professor of political science at New Mexico State University, told KOAT that Kennedy is leaning into the pressing issues he wants to highlight in New Mexico.
“He clearly thinks he has an opportunity to steal votes in New Mexico. How will his visit affect the presidential election? When you have a long-shot candidate like Kennedy, you have to go everywhere, even places that the major parties take for granted,” Dr. Scala told KOAT.
“Kennedy has several issues he wants to highlight in New Mexico, most notably Native American communities. Kennedy has made justice for Native American communities one of his core policy priorities, something neither Trump nor Biden have done. On his website, he has a video of him visiting Standing Rock during the 2016 pipeline protests, and he's trying to show this isn't a new effort to win votes. And if you look at Kennedy's visit to New Mexico today, [Saturday]”He's in Albuquerque for the premiere of a new documentary he made about America's drug epidemic, an issue that's hit New Mexico especially hard,” Dr. Scala said.
“Politically, this is an example of Kennedy trying to differentiate himself from Trump and Biden. If he just plays the same game as the major candidates, he puts himself at a disadvantage and loses. If an independent candidate like Kennedy wants to tackle the big, powerful issues of the two-party system, he has to do something different,” Dr Scala said.
“So what everyone's trying to figure out now is whether his candidacy is likely to hurt Trump or Biden more, and there's really no clear answer as to which side Kennedy is picking up votes from,” Dr. Scala told KOAT. “Well, I don't think either party is overly worried about Kennedy actually winning. Both parties have been hinting for months now that Kennedy running could hurt them in November.”
Keep up to date: Latest headlines from KOAT Action 7 News
Immediately following the film's premiere, Kennedy and other cast members participated in a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Drew Pinsky, a physician specializing in internal medicine and addiction medicine.
Stay up to date with the latest news with the KOAT app. Download now here.
