Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Monday he is abandoning his bid for the Democratic nomination for the White House in 2024.

“I’m here to declare myself an independent candidate for president of the United States,” Kennedy announced to a crowd of supporters at Independence Mall in Philadelphia. “We declare independence from the cynical elites who betray our hope and who amplify our divisions. And finally, we declare independence from the two political parties.”

His family name is almost synonymous with the Democratic Party, but Kennedy has determined that its primary nomination process was skewed in favor of President Joe Biden. That history, he said, made the decision personally painful for him.

Some members of the Kennedy family released a joint statement in response calling his announcement “deeply saddening” and “perilous for our country.”