Around a dozen Kennedys showed up at a campaign rally today in Philadelphia to endorse President Biden today — shunning their own unhinged, conspiracy-pushing clan member, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
"President Biden has been a champion for all the rights and freedoms that my father and uncle stood for," said Kennedy Jr.'s own sister, Kerry Kennedy, who was Robert F. Kennedy's daughter and John F. Kennedy's niece. "Nearly every single grandchild of Joe and Rose Kennedy supports Joe Biden."
"That's right, that's right," she said over loud applause. "The Kennedy family endorses Joe Biden for president." (See video below, posted by Acyn.)
From The New York Times:
Among the relatives of Mr. Kennedy who backed Mr. Biden were his siblings Joseph, Kerry, Rory, Kathleen, Maxwell and Christopher. … Joe Kennedy III, Mr. Kennedy's nephew and a former Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, was expected to introduce the president at a second event.
The show of force by the Kennedys sent the clearest signal yet that America's most storied Democratic family is deeply fearful that one of its own could tip the 2024 election to former President Donald J. Trump, and hopes to use its influence to try to stop him.
Many family members have previously expressed strong disapproval of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy, voicing anguish about his promotion of conspiracy theories and confusion about why he is challenging a Democratic president they admire. Like many Democrats, they worry that he could help Mr. Trump win if he draws even a small number of votes away from Mr. Biden in the battleground states — contests that were decided by tens of thousands of votes in 2020.
John F. Kennedy's grandson, Jack Schlossberg, beat the rest of his family to it, endorsing President Biden last summer while bashing his kooky cousin, RFK Jr., on Instagram. "He's in the middle of becoming the greatest progressive president we've ever had," Schlossberg said of Biden. But cousin Jr., on the other hand, was simply running as a "vanity project" whose "candidacy is an embarrassment." he had said, among other sharp criticisms.
In response to his family's endorsement of Biden ahead of the event, RFK Jr. did his best to appear unfazed. "I hear some of my family will be endorsing President Biden today," he posted. "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."
