JUST IN: RFK Jr eliminated from Libertarian presidential nomination after receiving only 2% of the vote

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been eliminated from the Libertarian presidential nomination after garnering only 2% of the party's vote. 

Kennedy's brief consideration for the nomination came as a surprise during the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, DC, when he was nominated by a delegate on Sunday. His nomination drew immediate boos from the other delegates on the floor, and the campaign came to a short end following the convention’s first round of voting.

During the first round, Kennedy was eliminated after only receiving 19 delegates, an amount that equaled just 2% of the vote. The leading candidate after the first round was Michael Rectenwald, who received 28% of the vote.

Kennedy had addressed the convention on Friday in an effort to increase his support. However, he never had an intention to seek the party's nomination, according to CNN. 

Kennedy also accepted the nomination in a video posted on Sunday, where he described it as an "unexpected honor" and expressed hope that Libertarians would join “an alliance” with his supporters to challenge both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election by electing him as an independent candidate.

“I’m very grateful to the Libertarian Party for this great honor, and I look forward to an alliance across the country, a fusion alliance of all of these independent parties who are now challenging the Republican-Democrat corrupt duopoly,” Kennedy said prior to the vote.

Former President Donald Trump, who also spoke before the convention, was nominated but deemed ineligible for not submitting nominating papers. In a statement, he said that he was also ineligble to seek the Libertarian nomination because he cannot seek both the Republican nomination and that of another party.