Top line
Members of the Kennedy family will support President Joe Biden on Thursday, the Biden campaign announced, a public show of support and a clear effort to undermine their relative Robert F. Kennedy Jr. amid growing fears that his third-party candidacy could take away from votes for the Democratic Party. candidate and increase the chances of Republican challenger Donald Trump.
Members of the Kennedy political family are expected to support Biden over their relative RFK Jr. on Thursday.
Highlights
Biden will accept endorsements from at least 15 members of the Kennedy family at a campaign event in Philadelphia, the Biden campaign announced.
The official endorsement is not surprising given the family’s historic position in Democratic politics from their previous tenure. support for Biden and their reports objections to RFK Jr.’s views, but nonetheless marks a major snub to a member of their family in his run for president as an independent candidate.
Six of RFK Jr.’s siblings will support Biden, NBC News reported: Rory Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, former U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Christopher Kennedy and Maxwell Kennedy Sr.
Kerry, daughter of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and niece of former President John F. Kennedy, prepares to give a speech supporting Biden, attacking Trump but apparently ignoring her brother, praising the president as “a champion of all the rights and freedoms that my father and my uncles defended.
Joseph Kennedy III, Biden’s US special envoy to Northern Ireland and the independent candidate’s nephew, is also in attendance and will introduce Biden at the event.
Joseph Kennedy III said NBC News that his uncle’s candidacy is likely to divert support and “siphon votes” from Biden, shore up support for Trump and, ultimately, “pose a threat to the country I love and the people values that I defend.”
Surprising fact
The Kennedy family has pushed RFK Jr. into the past, notably for spreading conspiracy theories about Covid-19 and for a pro-RFK Jr. super PAC advertising which mimicked a John F. Kennedy presidential ad. Although he is clearly willing to oppose RFK Jr.’s candidacy, public support for his political rival is clearly a complicated issue for some family members. In an interview with NBC, Joseph Kennedy III said the approval was somewhat “difficult” for the family. “Bobby knows we stand with him as part of his family, while also being able to clearly communicate that his candidacy poses a risk to the country we love,” he said. “We want to be able to make that point, not only because of the risk that Bobby’s candidacy shows, but also because of who Joe Biden is, what Joe Biden has done and what Joe Biden will do with four more years in power,” he added. Comments echo the complicated feeling shown at other times when the family criticized one of their own.
Tangent
“Several notable family members did not approve, including U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy and nonprofit executive Maria Shriver, which the Biden campaign said was due to their apolitical professional roles .
Key context
Both Republicans and Democrats fear that RFK Jr.’s campaign will hurt their chances of taking the White House in November. With surveys indicating An incredibly close race lies ahead, and even marginal shifts in the political winds could prove decisive. For Democrats, there is concern that RFK Jr. could alienate Biden voters by trading on his heritage as a scion of one of America’s most famous Democratic families. Meanwhile, Republican RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine stance and other policy positions could appeal to voters wanting an alternative to Trump. For both, those fears are amplified given voters’ broad antipathy toward Biden and Trump, leaving an opening for an independent to exploit.