Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s withdrawal from the race has proven that even an American elite cannot overcome the two-party system. The media has continuously painted independent runners-up as the recipients of wasted votes. Citizens often label themselves as Democrat or Republican, even if they do not fully agree with either party. And therein lies  the problem. The country knows what every independent voter must realize deep down: Outside candidates never win. 

We haven’t had a candidate who wasn’t either Republican or Democrat in the White House since Millard Filmore in 1883. Even Teddy Roosevelt, a very popular president, lost re-election when he ran for a third party. Americans must examine the effects a two-party system has on our country and candidates.

RFK Jr.’s recent endorsement of Republican candidate Donald Trump symbolizes a loss of hope, the sight of a candidate settling for less than he dreamed.

Kennedy’s two pinned posts on Instagram declare the former Kennedy campaign’s goal. The top post is captioned simply, “UNITE AMERICA.” The video is a montage of Robert F. Kennedy’s speeches contrasted with clips of Trump and Kamala Harris. The second post, from Dec. 8, 2023, says that Kennedy is on track to break the two-party system and become the first independent president since George Washington. He was polling strongly and gathering supporters from both ends of the spectrum. So what went wrong?

When a party is attempting to get a candidate elected, they are trying to sell a product. For example, Tim Walz is being sold as a down-to-earth Midwesterner who looks out for the people. People buy into an image and, ultimately, that is who becomes elected. Since RFK Jr. didn’t have a party to back him up, he had to sell himself. 

Despite his performance at the polls, the media has used a variety of tactics to portray a certain image of RFK Jr. At first, they ignored him. In June 2024, CNN would not allow him to debate with Trump and Biden. Mainstream media has more recently turned to gruesome smearing and storytelling to discredit RFK Jr.

The attacks began during COVID-19, when the media labeled RFK Jr. as a conspiracy theorist and spreader of misinformation due to his vaccine stance. Anyone who is familiar with RFK Jr. has probably heard him talk about recovering from a 14-year-addiction to heroin that started from family trials. Instead of celebrating someone who has worked incredibly hard to overcome hardship and addiction, the media sharpened their knives. The Atlantic published “RFK Jr. Was My Drug Dealer,” a scathing criticism of RFK Jr. that questions his ability to prosecute drug dealers, given that he allegedly sold cocaine in college.

Despite the odds, Team Kennedy still campaigned vigorously, seeking to use a grassroots campaign to their benefit. But did the same independent, hippie, grassroots effort that attracted voters also contribute to his downfall? Even though RFK Jr.’s humility set him apart, it also helped usher him into a lost corner of the internet.

As someone who was seriously considering voting for RFK Jr. and stands behind his political positions, I grieve for the loss of the campaign and the loss of a choice.  The pursuit of truth requires the knowledge of truth — and that means individual people doing independent research. The media cannot be trusted to give us a complete or a fair view, especially when it comes to third party candidates.

Charlotte Knobloch is a freshman studying the liberal arts.