Topline
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s siblings condemned his decision to run as an independent candidate for president next year, calling it “perilous” and “dangerous” on Monday, as Kennedy Jr. poses a threat to President Joe Biden’s candidacy and alarms some of former President Donald Trump’s allies.
Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes a campaign announcement at a press conference on … [+]
Key Facts
Four of Kennedy Jr.’s 10 siblings—Rory Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy II and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend—denounced Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential candidacy in a statement released shortly after he announced he was dropping his bid for the Democratic nomination to instead run as a third-party candidate.
In a sharp rebuke of their brother, they said he “does not share the same values, vision or judgment” as their father, a former senator who also served as U.S. attorney general.
Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer who spread Covid-19 conspiracies and anti-vaccine claims during the pandemic, has repeatedly drawn criticism from his family over the years, including from his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, who introduced him on stage in Philadelphia Monday.
Tangent
The Republican National Committee slammed Kennedy Jr. for launching an independent run Monday, calling him “a Democrat in independent’s clothing,” Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement pointing out that he supported Hillary Clinton’s campaign and referring to him as “your typical liberal elitist.” Though some polls suggest Kennedy Jr. would pull more votes from Biden than Trump, others suggest he has higher favorability among Republicans than Democrats, and the Trump campaign reportedly fears he could hurt Trump’s chances.
Key Background
Kennedy Jr.—the son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy—filed paperwork to run for the Democratic nomination in June before switching his party affiliation Monday. Some prominent GOP mega donors have backed his candidacy, and his polling average among voters is relatively high compared to previous third-party presidential candidates. In their most recent public rebuke of Kennedy Jr., his family criticized him in July when he questioned whether Covid-19 was engineered to “attack Caucasians and black people” and give Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese some form of immunity. His sister Kerry Kennedy, brother Joseph Kennedy II and nephew, Joe Kennedy III, all condemned the statement. Two of his siblings and one niece also denounced him in 2019 for questioning the merits of vaccines in children. And Hines publicly criticized her husband in January last year for comparing Covid-19 mandates to Nazi Germany.
Further Reading
RFK Jr. Launches Independent Presidential Bid—Challenging Biden And Trump (Forbes)
RFK Jr.’s Family Denounces Claim That Jews, Chinese Are Immune To Covid: Here Are All The Other Conspiracies He Promotes (Forbes)
Democrats Revolt Against RFK Jr. Over ‘Reprehensible Anti-Semitic And Anti-Asian Comments’ (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/10/09/rfk-jrs-family-denounces-his-dangerous-independent-presidential-bid-just-minutes-after-campaign-launch/