More than a dozen of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. family members will endorse President Joe Biden‘s reelection bid during a campaign stop in Philadelphia, on Thursday afternoon.
The endorsem*nt is the strongest rebuke yet from his famous family members that Kennedy has faced since launching a Democratic primary challenge against Biden before leaving the party to run as an independent candidate.
Kerry Kennedy, the younger sister of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will praise Biden as “a champion for all the rights and freedoms that my father and uncles stood for,” according to prepared remarks the Biden campaign shared with the Washington Examiner.
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She will also invoke her late father, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and her uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, while attacking former President Donald Trump during the endorsem*nt.
“I can only imagine how Donald Trump’s outrageous lies and behavior would have horrified my father, Robert F. Kennedy, who proudly served as Attorney General of the United States, and honored his pledge to uphold the law and protect the country,” Kennedy is set to say. “Daddy stood for equal justice, human rights, and freedom from want and fear. Just as President Biden does today.”
A vote for Joe Biden is a vote to save our democracy and our decency,” Kennedy will also say. “It is a vote for what my father called for, in his own presidential announcement in 1968 … ‘our right to the moral leadership of this planet.'”
Former Democratic congressman Joe Kennedy III will introduce Biden at the Philadelphia event Thursday. After the event, the president and members of the Kennedy family will join local supporters and volunteers at a grassroots organizing event where they will make calls and knock on doors.
It is unclear whether any of Kennedy’s family will directly mention him on Thursday.
Late Thursday morning, Kennedy addressed the Biden endorsem*nt from his family members in a social media post.
“I hear some of my family will be endorsing President Biden today. I am pleased they are politically active — it’s a family tradition,” he wrote on X. “We are divided in our opinions but united in our love for each other.”
“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,” he added.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) April 18, 2024I 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…
The Philadelphia event is part of a three-day barnstorm of the Keystone State Biden is holding as Trump is in court due to a New York criminal case trial.
Democrats fearing a repeat of the 2016 election, when Green Party candidate Jill Stein helped sink Hillary Clinton‘s campaign in key swing states, have mobilized against third-party candidates ahead of the November election.
Multiple polls have shown that the public is dissatisfied with the Biden-Trump 2024 rematch, which Democrats are hoping to block Kennedy from siphoning off votes from the president.
The Democratic National Committee has already established a communications group to push back against third-party candidates, including Kennedy, and has filed multiple FEC complaints against Kennedy’s push to gain state ballot access.
Kennedy remains the most dominant independent candidate in the field after No Labels dropped its bid for a unity ticket to challenge Biden and Trump. He currently polls at an average of 11.7% compared to Trump at 41% and Biden at 35.7%, according to RealClearPolitics.
Members of Kennedy’s family have long expressed their disdain for his 2024 campaign. After a pro-Kennedy super PAC aired a Superbowl ad that invoked his uncle John F. Kennedy’s legacy, the candidate was forced to apologize to his family.
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“I’m so sorry if the Super Bowl advertisem*nt caused anyone in my family pain,” Kennedywroteon social media. “The ad was created and aired by the American Values Super PAC without any involvement or approval from my campaign. FEC rules prohibit Super PACs from consulting with me or my staff. I love you all. God bless you.”
I'm so sorry if the Super Bowl advertisem*nt caused anyone in my family pain. The ad was created and aired by the American Values Super PAC without any involvement or approval from my campaign. FEC rules prohibit Super PACs from consulting with me or my staff. I love you all. God…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) February 12, 2024
More than 30 Kennedy members joined Biden at the White House to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in another show of force against Kennedy.
You can watch the Thursday afternoon Kennedy family and Biden event here.
