Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. had some harsh words for President Biden and the Democratic Party following former President Trump being found guilty in his New York City criminal trial on Thursday.
Kennedy, a thorn in the side of Democrats who are worried he might derail Biden’s chances at winning re-election, wrote in a post on X that the verdict would ultimately ‘backfire’ and accused his former party of attempting to destroy democracy.
‘The Democratic Party’s strategy is to beat President Trump in the courtroom rather than the ballot box. This will backfire in November. Even worse, it is profoundly undemocratic,’ Kennedy wrote.
‘America deserves a President who can win at the ballot box without compromising our government’s separation of powers or weaponizing the courts. You can’t save democracy by destroying it first,’ he wrote. ‘The Democrats are afraid they will lose in the voting booth, so instead they go after President Trump in the courtroom.’
Kennedy said the difference between his campaign and efforts by Democrats to take down Trump through the judicial system was that he was challenging the latter on his record as president, including on the coronavirus pandemic, his environmental record and his ‘support for the war machine.’
‘These are the issues that shape American lives. I’ll challenge him on these things, but the Democrats won’t. You know why? Because they pursue the very same policies.’
Shortly after the verdict against Trump was handed down, Kennedy responded to an interview question live on X about a ‘convicted felon’ running for office, and whether that was something he supported. He responded that the only constitutional requirements to be president were the minimum age requirement, being a citizen and being born in the U.S.
‘Technically, if you were in prison, convicted of murder or some other crime, you could still hold the office of President of the United States,’ he added.
Trump was found guilty on all counts in his historic and unprecedented criminal trial, making him the first former president of the United States to be convicted of a crime.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts.