Reactions to President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 race took a dramatic turn following a shocking statement from Independent third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Per The Red Archives, Joe Biden announced he would be dropping out of the race following mounting pressure from his race. Shortly after his announcement, the president endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. 

Kennedy Jr. released a statement on Sunday commending the president. He noted that the president’s declining health has been visible for some time. 

“I commend President Biden for stepping down. His infirmities were evident to any unbiased observer from the beginning. It was this progressive deterioration — and his abandonment of Democratic Party principles — that prompted me to enter the race and ensure American voters had a viable, vigorous alternative to Donald Trump,” Kennedy Jr. wrote in a post on X.

The Independent third-party candidate also dropped a major accusation against the Democratic party. Kennedy Jr. accused the party of hiding Biden’s condition from the American people and rigging the primary process in favor of the president. Kennedy Jr. added that the party still plans to rig the process to anoint Biden’s replacement. 

“Many Americans fear that the same DNC elites are about to rig the nominating process again to get a monumentally unpopular vice president to step into President Biden’s shoes,” Kennedy Jr. added. “Instead of anointing a candidate hand-picked by DNC elites, the party should use neutral polling to identify the candidate who can best beat Donald Trump. The delegates should then select a nominee based on this information. If they had done this to begin with, I would not have had to leave the Democratic Party.”

Kennedy Jr. began his 2024 presidential run as a Democrat candidate. He, however, switched over concerns that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) did not allow a level playing field. Kennedy Jr. accused the party of rigging the process to favor President Biden. Shortly after leaving, he announced his campaign as an Independent candidate.