On Thursday afternoon, members of the Kennedy endorsed President Joe Biden at a campaign rally in Philadelphia.

Biden’s rally in Philadelphia is the last major stop in a three-day swing through Pennsylvania. 

During this trip, he laid out his economic and tax agenda and attacked former President Donald Trump as an enemy of working people.

Kennedy family members approached the Biden team and requested a joint event for the endorsements.

Joseph KennedyKerry KennedyRory KennedyKathleen KennedyMaxwell Kennedy and Christopher Kennedy backed Biden during this rally. 

The event is a further rejection of their family member and independent presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The president’s campaign released a list of 15 Kennedys scheduled to appear at this rally but also mentioned that other family members would endorse him. 

Joe Kennedy III, a former Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, introduced Biden at a second event.

“We can say today, with no less urgency, that our rights and freedoms are once again in peril,” Kerry, RFK Jr.’s sister, said during the event. “That is why we all need to come together in a campaign that should unite not only Democrats but all Americans, including Republicans and independents, who believe in what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature.”

“I can only imagine how Donald Trump’s outrageous lies and behavior would have horrified my father, Robert F. Kennedy, who proudly served as attorney general of the United States and honored his pledge to uphold the law and protect the country,” Kari added. “Daddy stood for equal justice, human rights and freedom from want and fear. Just as President Biden does today.”

The Kennedy family members called and knocked on voters’ doors after the event.

During an ABC’s Good Morning America appearance on Thursday, Kari explained why Biden was the right choice.

“Well, I think nobody competes with President Biden when it comes to carrying on the legacies of [John F. Kennedy] and [Robert F. Kennedy Sr.] and Ted Kennedy,” she claimed. “He has spent his whole life working for working people, of gig workers. He marched with the UAW and helped to end that strike early.”

In response to the move made by his family members, Robert Jr. refrained from condemning them.

“I hear some of my family will be endorsing President Biden today,” he wrote in an X post. “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.”

“I hold this as a possibility for America, too,” he added. “Can we disagree without hating our opponents? Can we restore civility and respect to public discourse? I think we can.”

“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,” the independent candidate declared.

On February 11, a super PAC backing Robert Jr. ran an ad for his campaign during the Super Bowl.

The advertisement showed pictures of him in vintage attire, echoing the campaign of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy. 

Many of the Kennedy family members condemned the advertisement.

Robert Jr. tweeted, “Sorry if the Super Bowl advertisement caused anyone in my family pain.”

On March 17, Biden invited more than 30 Kennedy family members to the White House for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration – with RFK Jr. notably absent. 

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Article by Alessio Atria

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