Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may have failed to qualify for CNN’s upcoming presidential debate, but the third party candidate has found an alternate outlet on Thursday night. Kennedy will appear on Dr. Phil McGraw‘s Merit Street Media platform as part of its Debate Night coverage. He’ll join McGraw on Dr. Phil Primetime, which airs at 7:30 p.m. ahead of a simulcast presentation of the CNN’s debate at 9 p.m..
McGraw’s interview with Kennedy is exclusive to Dr. Phil Primetime and will cover how the candidate hopes to make an impact in the election, as well as the controversy surrounding his stance on such issues as Covid vaccines. In one portion of the conversation released by Merit Street, Kennedy reveals that he proposed a “spoiler agreement” to President Biden.
“I sent him a proposal,” Kennedy remarks. “I said, ‘Let’s do a spoiler agreement where we will co-fund a poll together and whoever in October is least likely to beat Donald Trump will withdraw.'”
In addition to Dr. Phil Primetime, Merit Street will air a post-debate episode of The News on Merit Street, with anchors Kris Gutierrez, Lyndsay Keith, and Loni Coombs offering commentary and analysis.
Originally, Kennedy had hoped to be in the network’s Atlanta studios debating President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. CNN’s rules for participation required candidates to meet specific constitutional, ballot and polling requirements. Those requirements included appearing on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach 270 Electoral College votes and receiving at least 15% in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters conducted by outlets that meet CNN’s standards—a list that included ABC News, CBS News and Fox News among others.
As of the June 20 deadline, Kennedy was polling at 15% in a trio of qualifying polls and made the ballot in six states, giving him a potential total of 89 Electoral College votes. Fellow independent candidates Cornel West and Jill Stein also failed to qualify for CNN’s debate.
The full list of outlets simulcasting CNN’s debate now includes: ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, theGrio, MSNBC, NBC News, OAN, Newsmax and Newsmax 2, NewsNation, Noticias Telemundo, PBS, Spectrum News and Scripps News.