RFK Jr.: Here’s What My Family Really Says To Me About Trump

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed that half of his family supported him after the self-described “Make America Healthy Again” candidate suspended his presidential bid on Aug. 23 and endorsed Donald Trump . In the days since, many of his prominent relatives publicly dissed him.

“I think we all love each other, and there’s a lot of humor,” RFK Jr. said in an exclusive interview with the Daily Beast. But, he acknowledged that “people have strong opinions about things.”

The Kennedy scion’s estrangement from much of his family surfaced after he became a strong opponent COVID-19 vaccines and circulated unfounded claims about the 1968 assassination of his father, Robert F. Kennedy Sr.

Although the former independent presidential candidate did not name which of his relatives “strong opinions,” five of his eight surviving siblings signed a public statement calling his actions “a betrayal of the values our father and our family hold most dear.”

Kerry Kennedy, RFK Jr.’s younger sister who recently joined Kamala Harris and Tim Walz ’s campaign, told USA Today there are “an endless number of Kennedys who are wanting to and willing” to help the Democratic ticket. The eldest daughter of Ethel and Robert F. Kennedy Sr. has become one of her brother’s most vocal critics.

She said she spoke for all of her other siblings, except for journalist Douglas Kennedy, when she expressed disappointment over RFK Jr.’s support of Trump.

“I completely disavow and separate and disassociate myself from my brother, Bobby Kennedy, and his flagrant and inexplicable effort to desecrate and trample and set fire to my father’s memory,” she said to MSNBC.

After the siblings crossed paths at the wedding of Mariah Kennedy Cuomo—daughter of Kerry and her ex-husband, former New York gov. Andrew Cuomo—she said her brother “knows my view and feelings very, very well.”

RFK Jr.’s younger brother Max, also invoked the legacy of their late father, calling sibling’s political endeavor a “hollow grab for power, a strategic attempt at relevance,” and “the opposite of what my father admired,” in an Aug. 25 op-ed in the Los Angeles Times .

Max’s comments echoed statements made by the sole grandson of President John F. Kennedy, Jack Schlossberg, who has repeatedly spoken out since the onset of his cousin’s presidential campaign.

“He’s trading in on Camelot celebrity conspiracy theories and conflict for personal gain and fame,” the son of Caroline Kennedy said. “I’ve listened to him. I know him. I have no idea why anyone thinks he should be president.”

Kerry, Max and Schlossberg are a handful of the many members of the Kennedy family who immediately threw their support behind President Joe Biden’s re-election effort and have now backed Vice President Harris. In April, Kerry spoke on behalf of the political dynasting and endorsed Biden at a campaign rally, telling the crowd “That’s right: The Kennedy family endorses Joe Biden for president.”

“There’s five members of my family that are working for the White House, and many others that have dealings because they run NGOs, that are dependent on the White House and White House policies,” RFK Jr. said of his relatives’ alliance to the President.

Dozens of Kennedys joined Biden at the White House on St. Patrick’s Day. A photo of the Irish-American clan was shared by Kerry on X, formerly known at Twitter, with the caption “It’s not enough to wish the world were better, you must make the world better. President Biden, you make the world better. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.”

Still, RFK Jr. told the Beast, “I love my family, I can disagree with them without hating them.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.