[The campaign is vexing some of the family in no small part
because of how central public health and vaccine access were to the
Kennedy agenda, and particularly to his uncle Massachusetts Senator
Ted Kennedy, called health care “the cause of my life.”]
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RFK JR. IS RUNNING ON THE KENNEDY NAME. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR THE
FAMILY’S LEGACY  
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Tal Kopan
July 18, 2023
The Boston Globe
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_ The campaign is vexing some of the family in no small part because
of how central public health and vaccine access were to the Kennedy
agenda, and particularly to his uncle Massachusetts Senator Ted
Kennedy, called health care “the cause of my life.” _

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his run for president on April 19 in
Boston., David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

 

WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says his presidential campaign is
carrying on his famous family’s legacy. Some who revere that legacy
fear he’s carrying it right off a cliff.

The 69-year-old environmental lawyer and antivaccine activist is
waging a quixotic challenge to President Biden for the Democratic
nomination. Polling usually shows his support somewhere in the teens
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posing virtually no threat other than some mild embarrassment to
Biden, despite some Democrats’ reservations about the octogenarian
incumbent.

But the campaign has brought new and widespread attention to Kennedy,
which in turn has elevated his conspiracy theory-laden views. Those
include repeatedly debunked falsehoods and misleading statements
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about vaccines, public health, and about the assassination of his
uncle, President John F. Kennedy. Each new comment has put an
unwelcome spotlight on the broader family.

That was true again over the weekend when video from the New York Post
surfaced
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of him claiming that the COVID virus is “ethnically targeted” to
attack white and Black people, while “the people who are most immune
are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” Ashkenazi Jews are Jewish people of
specifically Northern and Eastern European descent.

The remarks drew widespread condemnation as antisemitic and false,
including from several members of his own family
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Two of his siblings specifically tried to distance his remarks from
the legacy of their father, Robert F. Kennedy.

“I strongly condemn my brother’s deplorable and untruthful
remarks,” Kerry Kennedy said in a statement as president of the
nonprofit Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights foundation. “His statements
do not represent what I believe or what Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
stand for.”

“Bobby’s comments are morally and factually wrong,” said Joseph
Kennedy II, a former congressman and chair of Citizens Energy. “They
play on antisemitic myths and stoke mistrust of the Chinese. His
remarks in no way reflect the words and actions of our father, Robert
F. Kennedy.”

Kennedy himself tweeted numerous
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defenses of his comments, including that they were intended to be off
the record, misconstrued, and referencing a scientific paper, which
analyzed theoretical genetic susceptibilities to COVID.

“This cynical maneuver is consistent with the mainstream media
playbook to discredit me as a crank — and by association, to
discredit revelations of genuine corruption and collusion,” Kennedy
said.

He also brushed off the differences between him and his relatives in a
statement provided to the Globe before his weekend remarks.

“Do you always agree with your extended family about politics?” he
said. “We have our disagreements too, but we love each other as a
family. I wish the same for the larger American family.”

Kennedy family members have repeatedly tried to distance
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themselves
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from Kennedy’s conspiratorial and antivaccine views. Last year,
multiple family members, including his wife, actress Cheryl Hines,
spoke out against him
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after he implied that people who oppose the COVID-19 vaccine are being
persecuted more severely than Anne Frank, who died in a Nazi
concentration camp. Kerry Kennedy also spoke against his views on
vaccines and COVID
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April, when his campaign launched.

Still, Kennedy is drawing heavily on his family name for his run,
including direct appeals to the nostalgia of his uncles’ and
father’s time in government and calling himself a “Kennedy
Democrat.” The limited support he is getting is likely due in part
to that existing goodwill.

The campaign is vexing some of the family, say those who know them, in
no small part because of how central public health and vaccine access
were to the Kennedy agenda, and particularly to his uncle
Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, who chaired the Senate’s main
health committee and called health care “the cause of my life
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And there is fear that Kennedy’s run could tarnish the lasting image
of the closest thing America has had to a royal family.

“It’s not good,” said Representative Stephen Lynch, a South
Boston Democrat, in an interview before Kennedy’s latest remarks.
“Everybody has a right to run, I guess. But this is not a good
look.”

“His Uncle Teddy must be rolling in his grave over what this guy’s
doing,” said Jim Manley, a former aide to Ted Kennedy, in an earlier
interview. “It’s a repudiation of everything he worked for for
years.”

Kennedy has had some success raising money, pulling in more than $6
million since announcing his bid, and has garnered some traction in
the polls. But it’s unclear if the support would translate into
success as a Democrat. Despite otherwise progressive views, especially
on the environment, Kennedy has gotten the most attention from
right-wing personalities and media outlets for his anti-establishment
streak. House Republicans have invited him to testify
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at a congressional hearing on Thursday about alleged censorship.

Several of his biggest donors are noted vaccine skeptics, and analyses
by Politico
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and Popular Info
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significant numbers of his donors have historically supported
Republicans.

Many of those who are close to or otherwise support the family’s
legacy insist this presidential run won’t change it. Barney Frank, a
former congressman from Massachusetts who served for decades alongside
several Kennedys in Washington, said it was precisely that enduring
brand which made Kennedy’s presidential campaign notable.

“Bobby Kennedy Jr. — that’s the bearded lady, the dog-faced
boy,” Frank said in an earlier interview. “The attraction there is
shock of things that aren’t supposed to go together — a right-wing
Kennedy. So it’s not a serious issue, it’s kind of a ‘Ripley’s
Believe It or Not’ section.”

The power of the Kennedy name has also been in precipitous decline at
the ballot box for years. The family’s sprawling younger generation
has suffered a string of campaign failures over the last two decades,
including former representative Joseph Kennedy III’s unsuccessful
2020 primary challenge to Senator Ed Markey, a race the younger
Kennedy lost by more than 10 points. The first loss by a Kennedy in
Massachusetts
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since John F. Kennedy won a seat in Congress in 1946, the defeat
halted the promising electoral career for the grandson of Robert F.
Kennedy, who had been seen as the Camelot clan’s best hope for
continued political relevance.

The younger Kennedy’s loss joined a slew of disappointments for the
family including failed gubernatorial bids by Kathleen Kennedy
Townsend in Maryland and Chris Kennedy in Illinois, a terminated
Senate bid by Caroline Kennedy in New York, and a lost congressional
campaign in Maryland by Mark Kennedy Shriver. Two other Kennedys, Joe
Kennedy II and Patrick Kennedy II, served in Congress but ended their
tenures amid personal difficulties.

“The magic of the name is gone even in Massachusetts,” said
Laurence Leamer, author of three books on the Kennedys. “There’s
some of it left, but it’s not what it was. ... If a Kennedy wins
election, it will be because of his qualities and not because of his
name from now on.”

The family has been mostly quiet about Kennedy’s presidential
candidacy itself. Still, they have hinted about their stand on his
campaign.

Five days after her brother launched his presidential bid and the
statement she issued on behalf of the RFK foundation, Kerry Kennedy
posted a picture on Instagram of Biden and Ethel Kennedy, the
family’s current matriarch and Robert F. Kennedy’s widow. In it,
Kerry recounted that on the way to Ireland with Joe Kennedy III, now
Biden’s envoy to Northern Ireland, Biden and Joe had called Ethel
from Air Force One to wish her happy birthday. The Instagram post
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emphasized numerous links and goodwill between Biden and the Kennedy
family.

In addition to Joseph Kennedy III, three other members of the family
serve in the administration, most notably Caroline Kennedy, John F.
Kennedy’s daughter, who is ambassador to Australia, and Victoria
Kennedy, Ted Kennedy’s widow, who serves as ambassador to Austria.
No prominent Kennedy family member has endorsed Kennedy, and only a
few relatives were at his campaign kickoff in Boston.

What remains to be seen is what comes next for the family,
politically. Biden’s success in the Democratic primary over Kennedy
is all-but assured with the full backing of the Democratic National
Committee and the vast majority of the electorate.

Many observers wonder whether Joseph Kennedy III, at 42 years old,
plans another political run, especially with burnished foreign policy
credentials after representing Biden in Northern Ireland. The younger
Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment on the topic, and
several members of Congress who are still in touch with him said they
have no inkling of what he wants to do next. They said he is engaged
by his current work; all denied that his uncle’s presidential
campaign would affect his future.

“Joe Kennedy has a bright, bright future, no matter what he chooses
to do,” said Worcester Representative Jim McGovern, also a Democrat.
“So I don’t think any of this detracts from that.”

Writers were eager to proclaim the end of the dynasty
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after Joseph Kennedy III’s Senate loss, and similar declarations
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were made
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in 2010 when the last Kennedy serving in office at the time stepped
down.

How Robert F. Kennedy Jr. contributes to the legacy will be closely
watched.

“It’s not how anyone would like to see the story end,” Leamer,
the author, said. “No one wants to see the last chapter of the story
to be him and his quixotic, dangerous campaign that could be the end
of the Kennedys. None of the Kennedys want that.”

Tal Kopan can be reached at [email protected].

* Robert F. Kennedy Jr
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