Robert Kennedy Jr.’s presidential ambitions sparked public family drama after a political action committee released a super bowl ad invoking Democratic family heritage to implicitly compare independent candidate to his assassinated uncle, President John F. Kennedy.
The 30-second spot, funded by the American Values 2024 Super PAC that supports Kennedy, featured an abbreviated version of a campaign song that the 35th president used during his 1960 campaign. The spot also mimicked the effects of cartoons and newsreels using black and white images of Robert Kennedy Jr. similar to JFK. But, in a notable departure from Kennedy’s bygone Democratic Party dynasty, the ad urged Americans to “vote for independence.”
After the game, Kennedy responded to online criticism, including from one of his cousins, by pointing out that his campaign had not produced the spot, which cost about $7 million.
“I am truly sorry if the Super Bowl commercial caused any member of my family pain,” Kennedy wrote Sunday evening on X, formerly Twitter. “The ad was created and distributed by the American Values Super PAC without any involvement or endorsement from my campaign. … I love you all. God bless you.”
However, by Monday morning, Kennedy had pinned the ad to the top of his X profile. “Our momentum is growing,” he wrote. “It is time for an independent president to bridge the divisions in our country.”
Bobby Shriver, whose mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded the Special Olympics, hammered his cousin on the spot and his opposition to vaccines for COVID-19 and other diseases.
“My cousin’s Super Bowl commercial used our uncle’s faces and my mother’s faces,” Shriver wrote. “She would be appalled by his deadly views on health care. Respect for science, vaccines and health care equity was in his DNA.
Shriver, whose father, Sargent Shriver, founded the Peace Corps, also alluded to his own work to expand access to health care in the developing world.
Robert Kennedy Jr. responded separately to his cousin: “Bobby. I’m really sorry if this ad hurt you. …I send my most sincere apologies to you and your family. God bless you.”
Kennedy is presidential candidate as an independent despite his family’s status as Democratic Party nobles. It is not yet clear whether he will be able to reach elections in enough states to mount a truly national campaign. But his effort comes at a time when many voters are unenthusiastic about the likelihood of a rematch between President Joe BidenDemocrat and former President Donald Trump, a Republican. Any independent or third-party efforts in battleground states could shape the outcome in unpredictable ways.
“It’s fitting that the first national ad promoting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s candidacy was purchased and financed by Donald Trump’s largest donor this cycle,” said Democratic National Committee spokesperson, Alex Floyd. He was referring to Tim Mellon, a major Trump donor who also gave $15 million to American Values last year, according to federal filings.
The DNC had already filed a federal complaint alleging that Kennedy’s campaign is illegally coordinating with American values to siphon support from Biden, a charge the PAC denies.
A Biden campaign spokesperson avoided controversy, instead highlighting the president’s Super Bowl debut Sunday on the social media platform TikTok.
An American Values email newsletter touted the ad as an unqualified success, noting an increase in online searches for Kennedy and a statement from his campaign spokeswoman saying the campaign was “pleasantly surprised and grateful” for the publicity, a different tone from Kennedy’s statements to his family.
At one time, Kennedy was a prominent environmental activist and he was among the younger members of the Kennedy family who spoke at Democratic Party conventions and events. In recent years, he has delved into conspiracy theories and become a face of the anti-vaccine movement.
In addition to his presidential uncle, who was assassinated in 1963, Kennedy’s political lineage includes his father, who was U.S. attorney general, senator from New York, and leading presidential candidate at the time of his assassination in 1968. The oldest brother his father was Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. Sargent Shriver, Bobby Shriver’s father, ran for president in 1976 as a Democrat.
An anti-vaccine group led by Kennedy has filed a lawsuit against a number of news organizations, including the Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking steps to identify misinformation, including on COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took leave of the group when he announced his candidacy for president, but he is listed as one of his lawyers in the lawsuit.
