And there you have it, folks.
Just as quickly as his name was brought to the table, RFK Jr. has lost in his bid for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee.
In a surprising turn of events, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name was put forward by a delegate at the Libertarian Party National Convention on Sunday.
The crowd erupted into loud “boos,” but his name was added to the ballot anyways.
Soon after, any hopes RFK Jr. had of becoming the Liberatarian presidential nominee were dashed when he was eliminated during the first round of voting — where he received a mere 2% of the vote.
Take a look:
🚨 JUST IN: @RobertKennedyJr has been ELIMINATED from the race to be the Libertarian nominee for President
RFK Jr. put his name on the ballot and only received 2% of the vote—even after giving a speech at the convention.
Abysmal. pic.twitter.com/KBZq7DIm6c
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 26, 2024
🚨JUST IN: RFK Jr. FLOPS, only gets 2% of the Libertarian vote to be their nominee.
Yikes!!! pic.twitter.com/rQwRXwzSrk
— Pro Swing Trading 📈😎🇺🇸 (@Pro__Trading) May 26, 2024
The New York Post has more details on RFK Jr.’s miserable loss:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s short-lived attempt to become the Libertarian nominee for president flamed out even faster than it started, as he received support from a paltry 19 delegates, or 2.07%, at the party’s DC convention Sunday, sending him home in the first round.
Earlier in the day, Kennedy, 70, was unexpectedly nominated from the convention floor by a delegate, the announcement swiftly drawing waves of boos from the crowd in what became a harbinger of his embarrassing showing.
On Friday, he delivered a gloves-off speech to convention delegates in 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 during his administration.
A delegate on the floor at the convention also nominated Trump, but he was eliminated before the vote started because he did not submite the paperwork necessary to be a nominee.
Still, President Trump secured 6 write-in votes!
Trump explained in a Truth Social post why he did not file the nominating papers:
The reason I didn’t file paperwork for the Libertarian Nomination, which I would have absolutely gotten if I wanted it (as everyone could tell by the enthusiasm of the Crowd last night!), was the fact that, as the Republican Nominee, I am not allowed to have the Nomination of… pic.twitter.com/63GVymrv5H
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 26, 2024
CNN writes:
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was eliminated from contention for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination during the party’s convention Sunday.
In a surprise move earlier Sunday, Kennedy was put up for consideration as a nominee to represent the party in 2024, but he was eliminated in the first round of voting after receiving support from 19 delegates, or just 2.07%.
Kennedy, who spoke at the party’s national convention in Washington, DC, on Friday, was nominated by a delegate Sunday on the convention floor, where his candidacy was met with boos from other delegates.
Donald Trump was also nominated on the convention floor Sunday, but Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle ruled the former president was not qualified because he did not submit nominating papers. Trump spoke Saturday at the convention, where he was loudly and consistently booed, particularly when he asked attendees to “nominate me or at least vote for me.”
Trump received votes from six delegates as a write-in candidate. In a rebuke of the former president, adult film actress Stormy Daniels – whose alleged affair with Trump is at the center of his hush money trial in New York – received a vote from one delegate. (Trump has denied the affair and pleaded not guilty in the case.)
Candidates who received less than 5% of the vote were eliminated in the first round. In all subsequent rounds, the candidate with the lowest vote total will be eliminated.
After Kennedy’s elimination, he urged Libertarians to back his campaign even though “we may not agree on every downstream issue.”
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