Kennedy Family Comes Out Swinging Against ‘Obscene’ RFK Jr. After Trump Defection

Multiple siblings of former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent the weekend condemning their family member after he suspended his campaign and endorsed the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, defying the Kennedy family’s decades-long association with the Democratic Party.

Kerry Kennedy, RFK Jr.’s sister, went scorched-earth on cable shows against her brother, claiming she was planning to “separate and disassociate myself from Robert Kennedy Jr. and his flagrant and inexplicable effort to desecrate and trample and set fire to my father’s memory.”

“I think if my dad were alive today, the real Robert Kennedy would have detested almost everything Donald Trump represents,” Kerry told Jen Psaki, the former Joe Biden press secretary, on her MSNBC show on Sunday. “I’m outraged and disgusted by my brother’s gaudy and obscene embrace of Donald Trump.”

Kerry, one of RFK Sr.’s 11 children, has had a long career as a human rights lawyer and serves as the president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights—the nonprofit established shortly after his assassination on the campaign trail for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968. She was also married to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, before they divorced in 2005.

She was also one of five members of the northeastern political dynasty to sign on to a statement denouncing the endorsement. Other signatories included four of their siblings: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Courtney Kennedy, Chris Kennedy, and Rory Kennedy.

“I love my brother, but this is an outrage,” Kerry had earlier told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday night. When the CNN anchor asked the Kennedy heiress if she had spoken to her brother recently, she gave a frank “no” for an answer.

“I saw him a few weeks ago at my daughter Mariah’s wedding. But Bobby knows my view and feelings very, very well,” she added.

How RFK Jr. Went from Camelot Heir to Kennedy Outcast

Max Kennedy, another younger sibling of RFK Jr., made his own statement, publishing an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday that echoed many of Kerry’s points.

“His is a hollow grab for power, a strategic attempt at relevance,” Max wrote of his brother. “It is the opposite of what my father admired: ‘the unselfish spirit that exists in the United States of America,’” quoting a speech his father gave at the University of Kansas in 1968.

Max insisted he still loved his brother, but hated his move to endorse the Republican nominee. “It is worse than disappointment,” he wrote. “We are in mourning.”

Meanwhile, the former independent candidate appeared on Fox News Sunday, where he spoke more on the possible rift opening up in his family.

“I understand that they’re troubled by my decisions,” RFK Jr. told host Shannon Bream. “But you know what—I love my family. I feel like we were raised in a milieu where we were encouraged to debate each other and debate ferociously and passionately about things, but to still love each other. They are free to take their positions on these issues.”

He said he had “many, many members” of his large family that were working in his campaign and were supporting him. “I think we all need to be able to disagree with each other and still love each other.”

The former independent candidate’s campaign did not immediately return a request for comment from the Daily Beast.

RFK Jr. said he was “going to be campaigning actively,” promised that Trump would make “a series of announcements about other Democrats who are joining his campaign.”

“I want to make America healthy again, and so does President Trump,” he added.

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