By ZEKE MILLER, WILL WEISSERT and CHRIS MEGERIAN (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will receive endorsements from at least 15 members of the Kennedy political family during a campaign stop Thursday in Philadelphia as he aims to weaken Donald Trump and sideline the candidacy of independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, niece of former President John F. Kennedy and sister of the current presidential candidate, will deliver the endorsements of Biden, according to the Biden campaign.
The decision to emphasize the Kennedy family’s support more than six months from Election Day is an indication of how seriously Biden’s team is taking the threat of a long shot candidate using his last name’s lingering Democratic magic to siphon support from the incumbent.
Given Kennedy Jr.’s unrealistic political positions and the expectation this year’s campaign will be decided by thin margins, both Democrats and Republicans worry that he could play the role of spoiler.
Biden planned to use Thursday’s event, which caps a three-day campaign swing in a battleground state critical to his reelection effort, to also sustain the pressure on Trump, the former Republican president.
“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,” according to Kerry Kennedy’s prepared remarks. “Daddy stood for equal justice, human rights and freedom from want and fear. Just as President Biden does today.”
The endorsement was hardly a surprise. Members of the prominent Democratic family have been vocal that they don’t see eye to eye politically with Kennedy Jr., who started as a protest primary challenger to Biden in the Democratic Party and now is running as an independent. Biden last month hosted more than 30 members of Kennedy’s extended family at the White House for St. Patrick’s Day, when family members posed with the president in the Rose Garden and Oval Office.
After the formal endorsement, Biden and members of the Kennedy family were to meet with supporters at a campaign event, and members of the Kennedy clan were planning to make calls to voters and knock on doors on Biden’s behalf.
Several notable members of the family were not endorsing, including Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. ambassador to Australia, and nonprofit leader Maria Shriver, which the Biden campaign said was due to their nonpolitical professional roles.
Shriver, however, has been a conspicuous White House guest recently, attending the State of the Union and speaking at a women’s history month reception last month.
Bernard Tamas of Valdosta State University, an expert on third parties, said it was unclear whether Kennedy Jr. would pull more votes from Democrats or Republicans.
“He is pro-science when it comes to the environment, but a conspiracy theorist when it comes to vaccines,” Tamas said.
Tamas said that Kennedy Jr.'s lack of a clear political path limits his potential impact on the election. However, Democrats are more worried because some voters might think he is continuing his family's political legacy due to his last name.
Tamas added, I don't know what else he has to attract progressive voters other than that.
Kennedy Jr. has previously publicly discussed disagreeing with his family on many issues, but he believes it can be done in a friendly manner. After a political action committee supporting his campaign released a TV ad during the Super Bowl that heavily used imagery from John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential run, Kennedy Jr. apologized to his relatives on social media, expressing regret if the ad caused any pain to his family.
The Democratic National Committee has enlisted a communications team to counter the appeal of third-party candidates, with Kennedy Jr. being their primary focus. The DNC also recently filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Kennedy Jr.’s campaign, alleging that it coordinated too closely with an affiliated super PAC to get his name on the presidential ballot in some states.
The Trump campaign also regards Kennedy Jr. warily. While Trump has released a recent video expressing that he would vote for RFK Jr. over Biden if he were a Democrat, he has at times criticized Kennedy Jr. for being more "radical left" than Biden.
The endorsement from the Kennedy family is the culmination of three days of campaigning in Pennsylvania.
Biden’s travels were a chance to reconnect with his roots, beginning on Tuesday in Scranton, where he lived until he was 10 years old. He visited his childhood home, a three-story colonial that his family rented, and reminisced about attending Mass at St. Paul’s.
He appeared hesitant to leave town the next day, stopping for coffee before heading to the airport. When a customer welcomed him, the president said, "It's good to be back in Scranton."
Biden’s subsequent destination was Pittsburgh, where he called for higher tariffs on steel and aluminum from China to safeguard U.S. industry from what he deemed unfair competition.
Even that event evoked some nostalgia, as Biden reminisced about receiving an endorsement from the steelworkers when he was "a 29-year-old kid" from Delaware running for U.S. Senate.
"It changed everything," he remarked.
