RFK Jr.'s Family Ditches Him, Endorses Biden in 2024 Election in Major Blow
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
The campaign of independent presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy Jr. is a serious candidacy that could affect the outcome of the November election.
However, the 70-year-old environmental attorney cannot count on the support of much of his family as he seeks to beat the odds and become the first independent or third-party president in U.S. history.
Kennedy’s siblings, his nephew and one of his cousins have endorsed President Joe Biden’s re-election bid, the New York Post reported on April 18.
Several members of the liberal clan stood with Biden during a campaign event Thursday afternoon in Pennsylvania.
RFK Jr.’s sisters – Rory Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend – united around the president’s bid for another term in the White House.
So, too, did the candidate’s brothers — Joseph P. Kennedy II, Christopher Kennedy and Maxwell Kennedy Sr.
RFK Jr.’s nephew, former Democratic congressman Joe Kennedy III, also endorsed Biden, as did Edward Kennedy Jr. — his cousin and the son of the late Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy.
“He has us thriving again, believing again, behaving like good neighbors again,” Kerry Kennedy said of the president as Biden and her siblings stood on stage in Philadelphia, The Washington Post reported.
“Nearly every single grandchild of Joe and Rose Kennedy supports Joe Biden,” she said. “That’s right, the Kennedy family endorses Joe Biden for president.”
.@KerryKennedyRFK: That’s right. The Kennedy family endorses Joe Biden for president! pic.twitter.com/zouawXCuhF
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 18, 2024
The descendants of one of America’s great political dynasties tried to convince voters that Biden would champion “the rights and freedoms” of all Americans while painting former President Donald Trump in a negative light.
Kerry Kennedy called the GOP presidential candidate “the most anti-democratic president in American history.”
RFK Jr. posted about the event before it happened on Thursday.
“I hear some of my family will be endorsing President Biden today,” he said on X. “I am pleased they are politically active — it’s a family tradition.
“We are divided in our opinions but united in our love for each other. I hold this as a possibility for America too. Can we disagree without hating our opponents? Can we restore civility and respect to public discourse? I think we can.
“My campaign, which many of my family members are working on and supportive of, is about healing America — healing our economy, our chronic disease crisis, our middle class, our environment, and our standing in the world as a peaceful nation.”
I hear some of my family will be endorsing President Biden today. I am pleased they are politically active — it’s a family tradition. We are divided in our opinions but united in our love for each other.
I hold this as a possibility for America too. Can we disagree without…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) April 18, 2024
In the Real Clear Politics polling average of this year’s presidential race at the time of the Kennedy family’s endorsement of Biden, RFK Jr. was in third place with 7.9 percent support. Trump led Biden 42.5 percent to 40.8 percent.
The family members who endorsed the president turned their backs on the only Kennedy who is still politically relevant.
The last time a member of the Kennedy family held significant power in Washington was in 2009, when Ted Kennedy died in office at the age of 77 after almost five decades in the Senate.
Joe Kennedy III represented Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District in the House from 2013 until 2021.
What many thought was drool coming from his mouth (he said it was lip balm) made him a lightning rod for jokes when he delivered the Democratic Party’s official response to Trump’s 2018 State of the Union address, as Politico noted.
In 2020, the political scion challenged Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts in his party’s primary but became the first Kennedy to ever lose an election in the state, according to Forbes.
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