In the year of 2024, I think it is safe to say that no American citizen would ever think that a Kennedy would be back in the presidential race. However, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is shocking the world with his presidential campaign as an independent. And although Kennedy running for president could be beneficial to the family, it appears that the Kennedy extended family is not in full support of this idea. This Kennedy campaign could very well be a political spoiler in this upcoming election, with his candidacy potentially tipping the race in favor of the Republicans, which could ruin the family legacy.
The Kennedy family’s endorsement of Biden originally started with verbal statements until this past weekend when the visited the White House. On St. Patrick’s Day, three generations and four branches of the Kennedy family visited the White House in full support of Biden’s reelection campaign. It also seems that some of the family members who have been involved with politics in the past will be on the campaign trail in the fall, especially in the states where RFK Jr. is on the ballot. Furthermore, the Biden Campaign has made it clear that they are not making the Kennedy’s do any of this, and that they are letting the Kennedys take a lead on their efforts of endorsement for Biden.
The Democratic National Convention recently announced that Mary Beth Cahill, who is a former Chief of Staff to Sen. Edward Kennedy, will be serving as senior adviser in the Democratic party’s efforts to counter third-party candidates. The convention also happily used the photograph taken on St. Patrick’s day of the Kennedy faithful as a way to show were the family stands with this election. DNC spokesperson Matt Corridoni stated “A picture is worth a thousand words. It’s telling that the people who know RFK Jr. best are standing with Joe Biden in this election.”. Stephen Kennedy Smith was very direct in a social media post where he mentioned that his cousin could very well hand the election to the Republicans and “put our democratic process at risk.”. Stephen Kennedy Smith expanded on this with his statement “This is a mistake we can not afford as a country,” he wrote. “Our family has always worked together, so it’s difficult to speak out against a family member. But when RFK Jr decided to run he didn’t call me to ask for help because he knew I would oppose his candidacy due to his misguided stands on issues, his poor judgement, and tenuous relationship with the truth.”. This statement is very poignant because Smith went out of his way to call out his cousin on his flaws, or his flaws as the family sees it.
This upcoming election continues to draw more and more questions with each week, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. There has not been a strong independent candidate in quite some time, so it will be interesting to see how Kennedy’s campaign shakes up the election.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/kennedy-family-rfk-biden-2024-election-rcna144163