Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr has less than 24 hours to qualify for the first U.S. presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle, and a complaint filed with the hamstrung U.S. agency that oversees election policy might be his only hope.
CNN will host the debate on June 27, after incumbent President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump agreed in late May to the face-off. The deadline for candidates to qualify for the debate is 12 a.m. ET (0400 GMT) on Thursday. Wednesday also marks the Juneteenth holiday, which will stall most federal business.
Kennedy filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in late May alleging CNN’s debate amounts to a large prohibited campaign contribution to Biden and Trump because the media company “illegally” demanded that Kennedy meet “different criteria” to participate in the debate.
The campaign asked that the FEC take action by Thursday and keep CNN, Biden and Trump from holding the debate on June 27 until they have “come into compliance with the Federal Election Campaign Act,” according to the complaint.
The FEC declined to comment for this article. The agency, hobbled by political division, recently struggled to rule on artificial intelligence in the 2024 campaign, and has not ruled on related issues in recent elections, experts say.
