Kennedys Endorse Biden Over One of Their Own

RFK Jr. makes Michigan ballot for November
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 18, 2024 7:15 PM CDT
Kennedys Endorse Biden as RFK Jr. Makes Michigan Ballot
Kerry Kennedy, right, introduces President Biden on Thursday in Philadelphia. From left are Maxwell Kennedy Sr., Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Rory Kennedy, and Christopher Kennedy.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Members of his extended family have largely shunned Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presidential campaign, calling it dangerous, and been supportive of President Biden's reelection. But they made their endorsement official and emphatic on Thursday, Politico reports, appearing with Biden on Thursday in Philadelphia. "We want to make crystal clear our feeling that the best way forward for America is to reelect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to four more years," Kerry Kennedy told the gathering. She led a chant of "four more years" and did not mention her brother in her speech.

Biden, she said, is "a champion for all the rights and freedoms that my father and uncles stood for," referring to the late President Kennedy and Sens. Robert and Edward Kennedy. Donald Trump, Kerry Kennedy said, per CNN, is not. "I can only imagine how Donald Trump's outrageous lies and behavior would have horrified my father," she told the event. "What an incredible honor, to have the support of the Kennedy family," Biden said in response. The endorsement's rollout has included Kennedys appearing on talk shows and giving multiple interviews before Thursday's event.

The president's campaign is no longer leaving the effort to discredit the Kennedy candidacy to outside groups, which a New York Times analysis says could reflect increased concern among Biden aides. Some Democrats worry that the independent bid is more of a threat to Biden than it is to Trump, per Axios. Michigan election officials confirmed Thursday that RFK Jr. will be on their ballot in November, per the AP. Utah already reported that he's made the ballot there. Kennedy's backers said they have enough signatures in states including Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina, but officials have not yet ruled on the signatures' validity. (More President Biden 2024 stories.)

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