Kennedy Family **Does** Support RFK Jr.

Kennedy family shows significant support for RFK Jr. at 70th birthday bash in Los Angeles in January

On January 22, the Kennedy family came out to show their affection for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at his 70th birthday in Los Angeles. This demonstrated that contrary to the narrative pushed by the mainstream media, plenty of Kennedys support his run for president.

As the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of historic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, RFK Jr. represents a significant legacy of American politics. From the start of his campaign, RFK Jr. has openly championed fundamental notions of liberty and American prosperity that his uncle brought to the White House. His similarities to his father have also not gone unaddressed. Like his uncle and father, he faces substantial physical risk by challenging the incumbent political institution, currently represented by President Joe Biden. This also made his decision to depart from the Democratic Party all the more significant, as the Kennedy name is synonymous with the liberal values the party used to hold.

Naturally, this legacy provides RFK Jr. an inherent advantage in name recognition, which his political opponents have attempted to sabotage. A narrative appeared early on in the mainstream media that Kennedy’s presidential run is opposed by the majority of his family, suggesting the entire Kennedy clan disagrees with his platform and views. On April 16, 2023, days before RFK Jr. announced his candidacy, CNN published an article warning that he “can’t count on family support to take on Biden.” Similarly, NBC News wrote in July that various members of the Kennedy family have “lashed out against RFK Jr.”

On October 9, the day RFK Jr. announced his run as an independent, four of his siblings wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): “Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment. Today’s announcement is deeply saddening for us. We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country.”

Much of the mainstream media took this narrative to mean that all of his family disagrees with him – and they amplified that wherever possible.

Indeed, RFK Jr.’s personal and political positions are not shared by every single family member. As acclaimed author and historian David Talbot wrote in his October 13, 2023, piece for The Kennedy Beacon, this difference of perspective is demonstrative of “real families” in America – “divided by personal feuds, and, yes, sometimes by political passions.” Rather than focus on this reality, Talbot adds, “the media loves to highlight every Kennedy family blowup,” paying particular attention to the public denunciation by four Kennedy relatives following RFK Jr.’s choice to go independent. 

This position is perfectly understandable for some members of the family, five of whom work in the Biden administration. RFK Jr. is, by definition, a political opponent, and it stands to reason that they would defend the administration that employs them. There are, of course, also those who simply disagree with RFK Jr. Unfortunately, it is this limited selection of voices that the media has chosen to amplify. As explained by David Charbonneau in The Kennedy Beacon on November 24, 2023: 

“When Kennedy announced his candidacy in an historic event in Boston last April, he was joined by his wife, Cheryl Hines, and all six of his adult children, including his son, Robert F. Kennedy III, who is working for the campaign, and his son’s wife Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, who is now his campaign manager. He was also joined by a boatload of grandkids and nephews, numbering, in all, at least two dozen. It would be fair to ask, then, if the success of a family man is best judged by the opinions of some of his siblings or the love and support of all his adult children and grandchildren.”

The curation of Kennedys opposing RFK Jr. has allowed for a distorted view of the true level of support his family has given him, which was put on full display at his 70th birthday party on January 22. In a world where politics have families so deeply divided, RFK Jr. has taken it upon himself to embrace the diversity of views held by his own siblings, nieces and nephews, and cousins. As he said when he announced his candidacy, “many of them just plain disagree with me on issues like censorship and war and public health.” Kennedy added, “They are entitled to their beliefs ... and I love them back.”

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Liam Sturgess is an investigative reporter for The Kennedy Beacon. He is also a writer for the Canadian Covid Care Alliance and founder of Sturgess Prime Productions. He was the founding co-host and producer of the Rounding the Earth podcast, and publishes a Substack series called Microjourneys.