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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Ariana Baio

Robert F Kennedy Jr announces independent bid for president - latest

Julie Bennett/Getty Images, Scott Eisen/Getty Images, Sean Rayford/Getty Images, Ivan Apfel/Getty Images , Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

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Robert F Kennedy Jr has announced he will end his run for the White House as a Democrat and instead become an independent 2024 presidential candidate.

“I’m here to declare myself an independent candidate for President of the United States,” the anti-vaxxer scion of America’s most famous political family said on 9 October.

“But that’s not all, I’m here to join you and make a new Declaration of Independence for our entire nation,” Mr Kennedy added. “We declare independence from the corporations that have hijacked our government.”

Mr Kennedy originally positioned himself to run against Joe Biden, but the Democratic National Committee is not holding debates and is fully supporting the president’s run for a second term in the Oval Office.

With just two Democrats running, and President Joe Biden assumed the party’s nominee, a large group of Republican hopefuls have begun their bid to run against the incumbent.

This includes ex-president Donald Trump, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, ex-vice president Mike Pence, ex-South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, ex-Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, South Carolina senator Tim Scott, and ex-New Jersey governor Chris Christie.

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