The siblings of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are supporting Joe Biden. Kennedy's nephew is unimpressed. Does he decide the election?
PHILADELPHIA - More than a dozen members of the Kennedy family supported President Biden at a campaign rally on Thursday (April 19). They said he reflected the values and "moral leadership" of their clan's most famous members, a move intended in part to counter Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s independent campaign.
Family members - including siblings of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - were present during Biden's remarks. The event took place at the end of the president's three-day tour of the embattled state of Pennsylvania, where he is trying to present himself as a champion of the American middle class in the style of Kennedy.
The endorsement from members of America's most famous political family was intended to present Biden as a torchbearer of the legacy of President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1963, and Democratic Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, killed during his bid for the presidency in 1968. It was an unusually personal rebuke to the son of the slain senator, who portrays himself as the true heir to the Kennedy tradition. And it reflects the Biden campaign's concern that he could take at least a small number of votes away from the president.
Members of the Kennedy family are siding with Joe Biden ahead of the US election
Kerry Kennedy, a sister of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., delivered the support, flanked by five of her siblings. “We want to make it clear that we believe the best path for America is to re-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for another four years,” said Kerry Kennedy. “President Biden stood for all the rights and freedoms that my father and my uncle stood for.”
She also said the choice between Biden and former President Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee, was both politically and morally clear. “A vote for Joe Biden is a vote to save our democracy and our decency,” said Kerry Kennedy. "It is a voice for what my father, in his own presidential announcement in 1968, called 'our right to the moral leadership of this planet.'
The Kennedys made no mention of their family member's candidacy, and the endorsement is consistent with the clan's long, if informal, support for Biden. On St. Patrick's Day, Kerry Kennedy posted a picture on X showing Biden surrounded by a sea of Kennedys. Biden was in high school when John F. Kennedy became president, and he sometimes attributes his interest in politics to the former president. He also has a bust of Robert F. Kennedy in the Oval Office.
US President Biden on Robert F. Kennedy: “He inspired me.”
The similarities between JFK and Biden are striking. John F. Kennedy was the nation's first Irish Catholic president; Biden is second. And both had to grapple with how their faith would influence their role as commander in chief. Kennedy was asked if he felt a responsibility to the pope, while Biden faced questions about his political views diverging from Catholic teaching, particularly on abortion.
Biden also had a long friendship with the late Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the younger brother of John and Robert Kennedy. The two served together in the Senate for decades, including on the high-level Judiciary Committee. Years later, when Biden was running for the presidency in 2020, he modeled his efforts to eradicate cancer on President Kennedy's push to put Americans on the moon, calling it the "cancer moonshot."
On Thursday, Biden told the Kennedys and the crowd that he was moved by the example of Robert F. Kennedy. He remembers the senator's reassuring words to the nation the night Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. “He inspired me,” Biden said. “And his passion and courage inspired my generation.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy gives election campaign an unexpected turn
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to the support with a post on X. "I heard some of my family will be supporting President Biden today," he wrote before the event. “I’m happy that they are politically active – it’s a family tradition. We are divided in our opinions but united in our love for one another.” He added: “I also think this is an opportunity for America. Can we disagree without hating our opponents? Can we restore civility and respect to public discourse? I think we can do it.”
Biden's campaign hopes Thursday's support will give the president a boost in Pennsylvania - a state he must win in November - and beyond.
The candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has given an unexpected twist to this year's presidential campaign. He is the son and namesake of a legendary Democratic Party figure who spoke passionately about injustice, was the brother of an idealized president, and was martyred by an assassin's bullet.
Democrats fear Kennedy could cost Biden votes in the election
How he will ultimately impact the presidential race is still unclear, including whether he will take more votes from Biden or Trump, but his candidacy is making many Biden supporters nervous. He has embraced unorthodox and even conspiratorial ideas, such as questioning the effectiveness of vaccines and the role of those involved in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Democrats have now developed a deep-seated fear of third-party campaigns. Some in the party believe that Green Party candidate Ralph Nader cost Al Gore the presidency in 2000 and that Green Party candidate Jill Stein cost Hillary Clinton the White House in 2016. This year, Biden is running not only against Kennedy and Stein, but also against Cornel West, a scientist and activist.
Thursday wasn't the first time Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has clashed with his liberal Democratic relatives. During the Super Bowl in February, a pro-Kennedy PAC aired a commercial comparing RFK Jr. to former President Kennedy, prompting angry reactions from some family members. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apologized at the time, pointing out that the PAC was independent of his campaign and saying he was "sorry if the Super Bowl commercial caused pain to anyone in my family." The The term PAC stands for Political Action Committee. These are groups that raise campaign donations for a candidate.
For many, Bobby Kennedy still embodies American hope
On Thursday, however, the Kennedys weren't focused on the dissident member of their family. Rather, they turned their fire on Trump, who Kerry Kennedy said was attacking "the most basic rights and freedoms that are central to us as Americans." “I can only imagine how Donald Trump's egregious lies and behavior would have appalled my father, Robert F. Kennedy, who proudly served as Attorney General of the United States and fulfilled his promise to uphold the law and protect the country ", added her.
Thursday's event was attended by, among others, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a former lieutenant governor of Maryland, Rory Kennedy, a documentary filmmaker, and former Democratic congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II. All three are children of the elder Robert F. Kennedy and siblings of the current candidate. Another former congressman, Democrat Joe Kennedy III, was also in attendance.
Although the Kennedy family has lost its former political glory, it is still very much present in the minds of some voters, especially older ones who remember the days of "Camelot" and the glory of John F. Kennedy. His brother “Bobby,” with his mix of passion, idealism and tragedy, still embodies martyred American hope for a portion of the population.
Edward M. Kennedy took a different path, sponsoring numerous Senate bills during more than four decades in Congress. Until his death in 2009, he had good friends among his colleagues from both parties. However, like other members of the family, the senator's career was marred by sexual scandals. While several members of the next generation of Kennedys - including some who took the stage Thursday - have held political office, they have not achieved the same political and cultural power as their parents.
We are currently testing machine translations. This article was automatically translated from English into German.
This article was first published in English on April 19, 2024 at the “Washingtonpost.com” - as part of a cooperation, it is now also available in translation to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.