Biden to win Kennedy family endorsement in Philadelphia
Send a link to a friend
[April 18, 2024]
By Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 15 members of the storied Kennedy
political family will endorse U.S. President Joe Biden at a Philadelphia
campaign event on Thursday in a rebuke of Robert F. Kennedy Jr's
independent bid for office.
Biden, a Democrat, faces Republican Donald Trump in a November re-match
of the 2020 election. But members of both parties have bristled over the
possibility that the candidacy of Kennedy, a prominent anti-vaccine
activist, or another third-party bid could spoil either of their
chances.
Kennedy, son of the slain U.S. senator and presidential candidate Robert
F. Kennedy, made his name as an environmental lawyer, before becoming
known as an anti-vaccine advocate, and with an eclectic mix of political
views. He is backed by 15% of registered voters, versus 39% for Biden
and 38% for Trump, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Many in Robert F. Kennedy Jr's elite family - prominent Democrats since
the 19th century - have broken with him over his views.
"I can only imagine how Donald Trump's outrageous lies and behavior
would have horrified my father, Robert F. Kennedy," Robert F. Kennedy
Jr's younger sister Kerry Kennedy will say at the Biden campaign event,
according to prepared remarks. "Daddy stood for equal justice, human
rights, and freedom from want and fear. Just as President Biden does
today."
Kerry Kennedy and other members of the family are then expected to join
local volunteers in door-knocking and phone-banking on Biden's behalf,
campaign aides said.
The event comes as Biden spends his third day this week in Pennsylvania,
a critical swing state for his re-election bid. Biden needs strong
turnout from Philadelphia's Black community to win the state, and the
Kennedys became icons for many African American families because of
their advocacy for civil rights.
[to top of second column]
|
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a St. Patrick’s Day Brunch
event inside the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S.,
March 17, 2024. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File Photo
Biden, only the second Catholic president after John F. Kennedy, has
long spoken of how he was inspired by the family's political legacy.
In his 2007 book "Promises to Keep," Biden describes himself as a
young man moved to get into public service by the Kennedy brothers
and the late civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., "swept up
in their eloquence, their conviction, the sheer size of their
improbable dreams." A bust of President Kennedy sits in the Oval
Office.
When Biden was later elected to Congress, fellow Senator Ted Kennedy
would become one of his closest friends. Ted, John and Robert Sr.
were brothers.
The family ties have continued in the years since. Dozens of members
of the Irish American family joined Biden at the White House for St.
Patrick's Day last month.
Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the slain president, was appointed
ambassador to Australia by Biden. She had served as ambassador to
Japan under Democratic President Barack Obama.
"I have a big family," Robert F. Kennedy Jr told Reuters last month.
"Many of them are working in my campaign. Not everybody agrees with
me."
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Stephanie
Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Mary Milliken and Leslie
Adler)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|