Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday night he thinks there’s a case to be made that President Joe Biden is a bigger threat to democracy than former President Donald Trump.

“The reason for that is President Biden is … the first president in history that has used the federal agencies to censor political speech,” Kennedy told CNN’s Erin Burnett.

Kennedy cited his own experience with being banned from social media platforms and the Biden administration denying him Secret Service protection during his campaign.

“The greatest threat to democracy is not somebody who questions election returns, but a president of the United States who used the power of his office to force the social media companies — Facebook, Instagram, Twitter — to open a portal and give access to that portal to the FBI, to the CIA, the IRS, the CISA [Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency], the NIH [National Institutes of Health] to censor his political critics,” Kennedy said.

In 2022, Facebook and Instagram banned the accounts for Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. The suspensions have since been lifted.

Kennedy, who first sought the Democratic presidential nomination before running as an independent, has sued the Biden administration, alleging it strong-armed the social media companies to censor him, violating his First Amendment rights. 

Last month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a similar case brought by the attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri. A majority of the justices seemed skeptical that contact between the government and social media companies about topics like public health and election security amounted to censorship.

The Biden administration has argued it is not censoring speech but rather has worked to alert tech companies about misinformation and other content that could lead to violence, compromise the health of Americans who believe false medical information and help foreign governments interfere in U.S. elections.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified on Capitol Hill last year, “We’re very clear that it’s up to the social media companies to decide whether to do something.”

Kennedy also has repeatedly attacked Biden for denying him Secret Service protection. Kennedy, whose father — former Attorney General and New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy — was assassinated while running for president in 1968, has cited death threats against him in his requests.

According to the Secret Service’s website, the agency protects major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within 120 days of a general election. This year’s election is still more than 200 days away.

To be considered a “major” candidate, an independent or third-party hopeful must poll at 20% or higher on Real Clear Politics’ national average for 30 consecutive days. Kennedy is currently polling at 10.4%.

Decisions about Secret Service protection are made by the secretary of Homeland Security in consultation with a bipartisan advisory panel, not by the president.

Biden and Trump, the presumptive Democratic and Republican presidential nominees again this year, are trying to paint each other as threats to democracy. 

Biden and Democrats point to Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his comments about seeking revenge against his political opponents and being a dictator on “day one” if he returns to the White House.

Meanwhile, Trump and Republicans accuse Biden of weaponizing the federal government against his foes, most notably by prosecuting Trump. Biden has denied having any role in the Justice Department’s investigations, and there is no evidence he has been directly involved.

Mary Beth Cahill, a senior adviser for the Democratic National Committee, criticized Kennedy for his comments. 

“With a straight face Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that Joe Biden is a bigger threat to democracy than Donald Trump because he was barred from pushing conspiracy theories online,” Cahill said in a statement. “There is no comparison to summoning a mob to the Capitol and promising to be a dictator on day one. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid to rest tonight any doubts that he’s a spoiler candidate by pushing his MAGA talking points in prime time.”

Neither Trump nor his campaign has commented on Kennedy’s remarks.

Democrats and Republicans are both concerned that Kennedy Jr. could siphon enough votes from their candidate to cost them the election. 

Kennedy told CNN that Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election results were “clearly … a threat to democracy” and “appalling.” 

But he also defended election denialism, noting he believes the 2000 and 2004 elections — both won by Republican George W. Bush — were stolen.

“People who say that the election is stolen … we shouldn’t make pariahs of those people,” he said. “We shouldn’t demonize them. We shouldn’t vilify them. What we should be doing is saying, ‘Let’s all get together, Republicans and Democrats, and fix the election system.’”

But Kennedy also said he doesn’t believe Biden or Trump will ultimately destroy democracy. 

“We have institutions in this country that are pretty enduring,” he said.