RFK Jr.'s Family Has Their Candidate, and It's Not Him

Even if no one else votes for you, you can usually at least count on your own family to pull the lever for you on Election Day. That's no guarantee for RFK Jr., who doesn't exactly have the support for his Oval Office run from many in his extended clan as they continue to rally instead behind President Biden. Dozens of Kennedys converged upon the White House on St. Patrick's Day to take a photo with the commander in chief, with RFK Jr. nowhere in sight, in what Deadline deems a "political message" to the third-party candidate.

The picture was taken by RFK Jr.'s sister, Kerry Kennedy, who has publicly distanced herself from many of her brother's more controversial views, as have other family members. "President Biden, you make the world better. Happy St. Patrick's Day," Kerry Kennedy wrote in tweeting her snapshot. Other Kennedys—including Joe Kennedy III, the late Robert Kennedy's grandson and Biden's special envoy to Northern Ireland—also posted the photo on their own social media accounts.

USA Today notes that Biden considers RFK Jr.'s father, Robert Kennedy, to be one of his heroes in the political world. And although many of the Kennedys have already pulled away from RFK Jr.'s campaign, NBC News notes that the St. Paddy's Day photo "marked the beginning of a more active effort by the family to boost Biden's reelection effort and push back against one of their own." "There was a point of having everybody there," a senior family member tells the outlet, adding that "timing is everything" in terms of when or if there will be other interactions with Biden during the campaign cycle.

story continues below

RFK Jr. has addressed this familial rift previously, noting that although he loves his relatives, he doesn't see eye to eye with them on everything. "There [are] 105 Kennedys," he said in an NBC interview last month. "I think there's very few Americans whose families agree with them on every issue." Meanwhile, Biden's reaction? "From one proud Irish family to another—it was good to have you all back at the White House," he posted on Sunday, retweeting the picture of him and the Kennedy brood. (We're all still waiting to hear who RFK Jr.'s VP pick will be.)