Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he wouldn’t discuss former President Trump’s current legal and personal issues at Wednesday’s campaign stop at the University of Alabama’s Bryant Conference Center.

“I’ve known Donald Trump for 40 years. I’ve sued him twice. Successfully,” Kennedy said during the Q&A portion of the event, while the audience laughed in response.

However, Kennedy did criticize Trump’s “destructive” COVID economic policies. He said Trump let bureaucrats “roll over him,” even though he believed lockdowns were wrong for the economy.

Kennedy said he would listen to experts as president but make up his own mind.

“I respect everybody’s opinion,” he said. “If I see something that’s not working, I’m going to change my mind.”

Kennedy walked on stage to applause from at least 100 people. He talked about his legacy in Alabama, including Kennedy’s founding of the Waterkeeper Alliance, which has multiple active chapters in Alabama.

“I did a lot of litigation in this state,” he said. “Alabama is a second home to me.” (Kennedy himself lived in Alabama on two separate occasions, once while working on a book and again while working on his uncle Teddy’s 1980 presidential campaign.)

He discussed a lack of affordable housing options and believes the central contributors include inflation and large investment firms that are buying swaths of agricultural land and single-family homes.

Kennedy’s generation believed in the promise that if “you worked hard and play by the rules, you can own a home.” However, he said only one of his seven children, who all went to college and got good jobs, can afford to own one.

“There’s nobody in your generation who believes that promise,” he said. His campaign priority is to make sure young people can own homes.

Alexis Sanchez, a junior from Victorville, California, studying chemistry, wanted to get the viewpoints of someone who isn’t a Republican or a Democrat. She said she feels bipartisanship is damaging the country and doesn’t align with either Biden or Trump, whom she voted for in 2016. She said both major party candidates are fallible and wanted to hear more moderate views.

Although Kennedy is anti-vaccine, Sanchez said as a future medical professional, she’s more concerned about the Food and Drug Administration and the safety of what people consume. She also said young people need to learn more about the issues versus just listening to “skewed” mainstream media.

“I feel like young people really need to take their education into their own hands, prioritize education and health over everything else, and everything else comes later,” Sanchez said.

As an independent candidate, Kennedy has a steep road to even get on the ballot for November’s presidential election in most states.

Kennedy would need to gather 5,000 signatures to ask Alabama for ballot access. He said he is aiming for 8,000 signatures from Alabama by the deadline in August.