Presidential campaigns are notoriously brutal. The bruising schedule. The bad coffee. The time away from home. The never-ending need to hit up donors for money. The attack ads. The ever-present possibility that it could all be for nothing. You know what’s probably also not fun? When a large portion of your family publicly endorses your opponent and, by extension, opposes you. Which is what happened to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. today.
Yes, at a campaign rally in Philadelphia on Thursday, six of RFK Jr.’s siblings—which is 75% of the ones who are alive, or all but two—endorsed Joe Biden for president. Speaking on behalf of the group, Kerry Kennedy told the crowd that it wasn’t just the siblings who back Joe and oppose Bobby, but “nearly every single grandchild of Joe and Rose Kennedy.” (Joe Kennedy was the patriarch of the Kennedy clan, and father to John F. Kennedy Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, and Ted Kennedy, among others.) “That’s right,” Kerry Kennedy said. “The Kennedy family endorses Joe Biden for president.… We are here because we feel obliged to do all we can in this election.”
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On the stage with Kerry were Kennedy siblings Joseph, Rory, Kathleen, Maxwell, and Christopher. According to The New York Times, Joe Kennedy III, a former Democratic congressman and one of RFK Jr.’s nephews, is expected to introduce the president at a second event. The family, the outlet reported, had “approached the Biden team and requested a joint event for the endorsements.”
While his relatives endorsing the competition likely stung, it probably also did not come as a surprise to RKF Jr. Last month, numerous members of the Kennedy clan visited Biden at the White House on St. Patrick’s Day and posed for a photo with him. Speaking to George Stephanopoulos earlier this month, Rory Kennedy said, “I think this election is going to come down to a handful of votes in a handful of states. And I am concerned that voting for Bobby is going to take votes away from Biden and lead to a Trump election, and I’m very concerned what that will do to our country and to the world over the ensuing four years.”
Speaking of which: Earlier this month, the Kennedy campaign fired New York staffer Rita Palma after she told GOP voters that the goal of his campaign was to reelect Donald Trump.
In a statement following his siblings’ announcement, Kennedy wrote on social media: “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.”\
In case the Kennedys’ feelings were unclear…
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