Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared several critiques of The New York Times during an interview with the outlet, going as far as to call it “an instrument of the Democratic Party” that he believes is propping up President Biden.
RFK shared his thoughts while being interviewed for the Times’ election podcast, “The Run-Up.” During the sit-down, he accused the newspaper of having coverage bias after the host asked him about his candidacy potentially spoiling the election against Biden and former President Donald Trump
Astead Herndon, the host, asked Kennedy if he was “considering the reality of the stakes” of the next election.
“That in the same way that you think you’re acting on what you believe in, that it requires a certain level of privilege to do so without thinking about the possibility of being a spoiler. How would you respond?” Herndon asked.
Kennedy didn’t seem to appreciate the premise of Herndon’s question, saying he didn’t understand it and that he had an organization “that we believe is better than any of the other political organizations.”
He added that the people around him have “very, very pure impulses because they love this country.”
“I’m offering a vision to Americans that they’re not getting. Seventy percent of people in this country do not want a contest between Trump and Biden,” RFK said. “Don’t you feel that those people should have an option?”
He then went on to accuse the Times of gatekeeping coverage when it comes to those who don’t approve of either of the Republican or Democratic candidates.
“Isn’t that kind of a privileged position that you have, of taking the position that the New York Times is not going to allow those people, those Americans who don’t want to see a rerun of this contest?” Kennedy asked. “Don’t you think they deserve something, or are you going to sit there and say nobody should do that because I’m scared of this guy or I’m scared of that guy?”
While Herndon attempted to get the conversation back to his question, RFK continued to hit the host with criticisms of the Times.
“The New York Times is essentially an instrument of the Democratic Party,” he argued.
“I understand you’re making an institutional argument,” Herndon responded.
“Aren’t you making institutional arguments against me since this started? You’re an instrument of the DNC,” Kennedy said. “And, of course, you’re going to try and get people. Your job, doing what you’re doing, is to try to spin this some way that is going to help Biden and hurt Trump and get rid of any threat to that. And in the guardrails contrast that the New York Times approves of. And that’s just not right for our country, and I’m not going to go along with it.”