RFK Jr. surpasses 1 million signatures, completes petitioning in 8 more states

July 31 (UPI) -- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent candidate for president, blasted the media Wednesday for ignoring his candidacy as he announced that his campaign has collected more signatures than any presidential candidate in American history, surpassing 1 million as he completes petitioning in eight more states.

The Kennedy campaign announced that it has collected all of the required and validated signatures in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Massachusetts, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont and Virginia and will "soon be on the ballot in all 50 states and D.C."

Two days ago, the campaign submitted signatures for Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

"They forced us to bear this ballot access expense and organize a tremendous volunteer effort," Kennedy said during a press briefing Wednesday. "It's turned out to be a huge advantage in the upcoming election, as we now have more than 100,000 volunteers ready to get the vote out and win this election."

Kennedy is currently on the ballot in 13 states that include California, Delaware, Hawaii, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Alaska, Indiana and Nebraska.

During his press briefing, Kennedy chastised the two-party system as his vice presidential candidate Nicole Shanahan claimed "more than 50% of Americans now identify as independents."

While Kennedy said Americans are craving a better choice this election, he said gaining access as an independent candidate to the mainstream media has been "insurmountable."

"In 18 months, I have not been allowed on the major platforms through which we talk to the American people and those platforms are also everyday telling the American public, 'he can't win,'" Kennedy said.

"And we've done polling, that shows I have a 10-point advantage over Vice President Harris in a head-to-head race against Donald Trump ," Kennedy added.

Kennedy did not qualify to join former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden , the Republican and Democratic candidates, during last month's CNN presidential debate, and blamed the mainstream media for fueling divisions.

"The toxic polarization of our country that the media is feeding into and they're telling the American public 'you have no choice but to have more of the same,'" Kennedy said, as he lamented "journalism which used to be the guardian that kept democracy honest."

"We expect unfair treatment. We expect egregious treatment from the political parties, but also from the mainstream media," Kennedy said. "In a democracy, you should let the public decide and give everyone a platform."