Members of the iconic Kennedy family, a longtime staple in American politics, will reportedly announce a major endorsement in the 2024 presidential race on Thursday — a move expected to be a snub of one of their own seeking the White House.
According to Axios, more than a dozen Kennedy family members will appear alongside President Biden at an event in Philadelphia to publicly back him over Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is driving Democrats to panic that his independent White House bid could lead to a victory for former President Donald Trump.
“President Biden has been a champion for all the rights and freedoms that my father and uncles stood for,” RFK Jr’s sister, Kerry Kennedy, is expected to say in prepared remarks shared with Axios that reference the late former President John F. Kennedy, the late former U.S. Attorney General and New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and the late former Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy.
“I can only imagine how Donald Trump’s outrageous lies and behavior would have horrified my father,” she is expected to say.
According to the report, Biden will be introduced by former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., who ran a failed campaign for U.S. Senate in 2020, and currently serves as Biden’s special envoy to Northern Ireland.
The family members will then put in some work on behalf of the Biden campaign in Pennsylvania, a major swing state, including making calls and knocking on doors.
When reached for comment, Kennedy’s campaign pointed Fox News Digital to a statement the candidate made on social media just ahead of the event.
“I 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,” RFK, Jr. wrote. “I hold this as a possibility for America too. Can we disagree without hating our opponents? Can we restore civility and respect to public discourse? I think we can.”
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“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. But this will only happen if we heal our national conversation, and move from rage and fear into love and respect,” he added.
The announcement marks the latest and most forceful rebuke of RFK, Jr. by members of his family after they described his candidacy as “perilous for our country” last October following his decision to run as an independent instead of a Democrat.
They’ve also been critics of his past comments concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, which he once suggested was engineered to target certain ethical groups.
Last month, the Democratic National Committee launched an effort to silence the threat to Biden’s re-election from third-party candidates, namely Kennedy, in the form of a team that is expected to actively combat them with legal challenges and opposition research.
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Since its inception, members of the team post near constant criticism of RFK, Jr. on social media, and have frequently referred to him as a “spoiler” candidate. They have also claimed Kennedy is in cahoots with Trump in order to help him win.
Earlier this month, the DNC accused RFK, Jr’s campaign of acknowledging its role as a “spoiler” after a woman associated with the campaign was captured on video discussing campaign strategy and how Trump could win the state of New York with the independent candidate on the ballot in November.
“The only way that Trump can even, remote possibility of taking New York is if Bobby is on the ballot,” a self identified Kennedy campaign staffer, told a room of Republicans in New York in a video reviewed by Fox News Digital.
“If it’s Trump vs. Biden, Biden wins. Biden wins six days, seven days a week. With Bobby in the mix, anything can happen.”
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
