As members of the Kennedy family joined President Biden in Philadelphia to endorse his reelection and denounce the presidential candidacy of the most famous Kennedy of a generation, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one person came forward to make the family’s case: his sister, Kelly.
“Almost all of Joe and Rose Kennedy’s grandchildren support Joe Biden,” Kennedy said at the podium, flanked by her siblings and Biden. “That’s right. The Kennedy family supports Joe Biden for president.”
This is not the first time that Kennedy, the seventh child of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, has been the subject of family backlash against her older brother. Kennedy has distanced himself from his family as he remains skeptical of the coronavirus vaccine and has emerged as a propagator of conspiracy theories about his father’s assassination. To protect her long-standing brother and the legacy of a proud, private family that is disappearing from the political scene.
Kennedy’s brother said her extraordinary role stems from the love she has shown for her brother since they were children playing on the grounds of their family’s Hickory Hill, Virginia, homestead and the love she feels for him now. It was born out of a sense of disappointment. There are also political implications. Mr. Kennedy has argued that his brother’s insurrectionist movement threatens Mr. Biden’s re-election, and his family could bear some of the blame if Donald J. Trump returns to the White House next year. I am aware that there is.
“I love Bobby,” she said in an interview. “It’s heartbreaking to be in this position.”
But Ms. Kerry Kennedy’s decision to help lead the necessarily awkward effort for her family comes at a time when the Robert F. It also reflects her concerns about her legacy.
As president, she has championed causes that mirror her father’s work, including international human rights, combating health disparities, and advocating for immigrants. In some cases, positions her brother has embraced, particularly her opposition to COVID-19 vaccinations, are in direct contradiction to the organization’s mission.
“Mr. Kerry feels a special burden in running for office, and that burden has had a negative impact on her work,” said Christopher G. Kennedy, one of her brothers. “She has supported hundreds of human rights activists around the world. Kennedy’s ability to be associated with outlandish thinking, outlandish ideas, and unsound judgment will diminish her effectiveness.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declined to comment on his sister’s role in the Biden campaign. “I don’t think he will be involved in this controversy,” he said in a text message.
It’s been 56 years since Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles. But Ms Kennedy, 64, said many people, especially the younger generation, no longer differentiate between fathers and sons who share the same name.
“Anyone can look at my X feed or the reactions on Instagram and see that there’s a lot of confusion out there,” she said in an interview. “We’ve been forced to clarify where our organizations have differing positions on issues like vaccine safety, the role of HIV in causing AIDS, why people are transgender, and the role of platforms in curbing misinformation, to name a few.”
Kennedy’s views on the potential impact of her brother’s candidacy are not shared by the entire family. “I think the mistake the media makes is thinking that his appeal to people is based solely on his relationship with our family,” said Douglas H. Kennedy, another brother. Told. said about his work as a correspondent for FOX News. “I believe that his supporters are not influenced by the concerns of his brothers and cousins. His supporters believe in his message. I don’t think I’ll give it.”
The Biden campaign disagrees, and plans to deploy Kennedy and other family members to battleground states in the coming months if Kennedy’s brother remains on the ballot. “I’ve told the Biden campaign that I’ll campaign wherever they want me to,” Kennedy said.
Biden campaign officials say polling shows many people don’t know much about Kennedy or what he stands for, and that Kennedy’s family could help fill the gap. He said it was particularly effective.
“I am honored to have the support of the Kennedy family and look forward to working with them to spread the message of how the president continues the Kennedy family’s legacy during the campaign.” campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said.
Mr. Kennedy is used to being in the spotlight. Her marriage to Andrew M. Cuomo in 1990, before he was elected governor of New York, was the merging of two of the nation’s most famous political families. The photo was taken at the church in Washington, D.C. where John F. Kennedy’s funeral was held in 1963, with a film crew and photographers waiting outside. The relationship ended in divorce 15 years later, and details of the breakup were spread in the tabloids. She did not remarry.
Seven years after her marriage ended, Kennedy was arrested and charged with drunk driving in upstate Westchester County, New York. She said she accidentally took one of her sleeping pills before getting into the car. Although her jury took less than an hour to find her not guilty, the case made her life tabloid fodder once again.
Mr. Kennedy persevered, but unlike in recent years, he largely stayed out of the public eye.
Her passionate appeal to Mr. Biden – a tone of voice familiar to anyone who has seen her father or uncle – was echoed by President John F. Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, 31. This was in sharp contrast to a series of mocking Instagram posts by various accents to belittle his cousin as dishonest and unintelligent.
Mr Kennedy’s posts on social media include clips of his father’s speeches, paeans to human rights leaders such as John Lewis, and tributes to his 96-year-old mother. (“Mom is a master at defending the rights of others,” she wrote recently.) Ms. Kennedy said she had not spoken to Mr. Schlossberg about Mr. Schlossberg’s post.
Ms. Kennedy now finds herself on the cusp of an unusual situation for a family that prides itself on keeping internal dissent out of the public eye.
“They’ve always learned from JFK’s generation that all the bad things in the family should be kept in the family,” said Lawrence Riemer, who has written a series of books about the Kennedy family. . “It ends here.”
But through it all, the family has tried to stay united. “This isn’t about Bobby. This is about Biden,” said his sister, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. “We’ve supported Biden for a long time.”
Kerry Kennedy said she still sees her brother at family events, including at the Kennedy mansion in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. “Bobby and she went to the Cape several times last summer,” she said. “We were both in Aspen on vacation, and we were sitting around the lunch table. We text — we do family text message exchanges — so there’s a back-and-forth. But, He didn’t call me for advice.”
Christopher Kennedy said he frequently shared his concerns about what he was doing with his brother. “People would come up to me in the grocery store and say, ‘Why are you letting my brother get away with this?'” he said. “I think if Bobby had an outcome like this, we’re all to blame.”
“Like all true believers, I say he is untouchable,” he said. “Hardening of the shell is definitely occurring.”
Mr. Kennedy said he was resigned to the fact that his brother was winning the election and even suggested that he had come to accept or at least understand Mr. Kennedy’s campaign efforts this time around.
“After all, why is he doing this?” she said. “I’m there for the same reason, because we both believe the risks are high.”
