More than a dozen members of America's most famous political families are backing President Joe Biden over his relative Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Biden met Thursday in Pennsylvania with members of the Kennedy family, which helped shape the modern Democratic Party.
The support underscores the lack of support within the family for Mr. Kennedy Jr.'s independent bid for the presidency.
He began campaigning after considering the Democratic Party's nomination.
In Philadelphia, Mr. Biden was introduced by Mr. Kennedy Jr.'s sister, Kerry Kennedy.
Kennedy did not mention his brother directly in his remarks, but said there were only two candidates who “have the potential to win the presidency.”
She likened Biden to her father and touted the president's support for labor unions, Ukraine, U.S. infrastructure and crime-cutting efforts. She called Trump “the most anti-democratic president in American history” and said he spread “dangerous conspiracy theories” that terrified his father.
“I want to be clear that the best path forward for America is to re-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for four more years,” he said.
Former President Donald Trump is expected to face Democrat Biden in November as the Republican candidate.
Many of his relatives opposed Mr. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign from the beginning, and members of his family with deep roots in Ireland visited Mr. Biden at the White House on St. Patrick's Day.
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In Philadelphia, several family members have been knocking on doors and making phone calls for the Biden campaign. Among the group supporting Biden is former Congressman Joe Kennedy III, who is the Biden administration's special economic envoy for Northern Ireland.
Although the Kennedy family's influence has declined since the beginning of this century, few families have had a more pronounced influence on American politics. Kennedy Jr.'s uncles were presidents and senators, and his father was assassinated in 1968 while running for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Kennedy Jr., who had a career as an environmental lawyer before leading the anti-vaccination group Children's Health Defense, has seen his profile and donations soar during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a post to We are divided, but united in our love for President Biden.” each other. “
He said several other family members work for his campaign, which is run by his daughter-in-law, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy.
Kennedy Jr. said his presidential bid was about “healing America: healing our economy, healing our chronic disease crisis, healing our middle class, healing our environment and our standing as a peaceful nation in the world.”
Polls show Mr. Kennedy Jr. is the most popular of the many third-party and independent candidates also in the race, with enough votes in multiple states to influence the outcome. It is unclear who will be hurt more, Mr. Biden or Mr. Trump.
His immediate challenge in the race will be getting his name on the ballot. The campaign says it has enough petition signatures to qualify for the ballot in nine states, and efforts are underway in most other states. On Thursday, Kennedy's campaign announced that he had qualified in Michigan, a key battleground state.
Democrats filed a legal challenge, arguing that political action committees supporting his campaign were not allowed to collect those signatures.
Democrats have also tried to link Kennedy Jr. to Trump by highlighting the fact that Trump's major donor, Timothy Mellon, is also the largest donor to political action committees supporting the Kennedy campaign. There is.
Meanwhile, Trump has praised Kennedy Jr., writing in a Truth Social post: “He's a crooked political opponent of Joe Biden, not my opponent. It's great that he's running.” ” he wrote.
At the same time, some Trump supporters have grown concerned that he poses a threat, emphasizing his views on the environment and other issues in an effort to portray Kennedy Jr. as a far-left radical. .
