The Kennedy family is as close to a royal family that the U.S. gets, but not all members are enthusiastic about their ‘crown prince’ RFK Jr.’s presidential bid – which the 2024 hopeful tells DailyMail.com doesn’t bother him.
After Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 69, launched a Democratic primary bid against sitting President Joe Biden in April, members of the Kennedy clan revolted. Some in his famous family have publicly rebuked him over flamboyant comments he has made about the COVID-19 vaccine, the Russia-Ukraine war and more.
When asked by DailyMail.com during an exclusive interview on Monday about whether he keeps in touch with his large family despite their vocal criticism, RFK Jr. replied ‘of course.’
‘I mean, my family was raised arguing with each other,’ RFK Jr., who is one of 11 children in his immediate family, added.
RFK Jr. said that over the Fourth of July weekend ‘107 members’ of his family got together.
‘A lot of them support me and a lot of them disagree with me,’ he continued.
Kennedy family July 4 photo from 2023. RFK Jr. said that 107 members of his family got together this year
‘And they’re entitled to that. We can disagree with each other and still love each other. And that’s how we were raised.’
‘So I’m not troubled by that at all,’ he told DailyMail.com.
RFK reportedly did not attend the massive family reunion himself due to his ongoing campaign.
Former President JFK’s 30-year-old grandson Jack Schlossberg recently made headlines for publicly criticizing his cousin’s decision to run against Biden in the Democratic primary.
Schlossberg said Biden was on the way to becoming the country’s ‘greatest progressive president we’ve ever had,’ and said if his cousin cared about his family’s legacy he’d support the current occupant of the Oval Office.
‘Instead, he’s trading in on Camelot, celebrity, conspiracy theories and conflict for personal gain and fame,’ the lawyer and son of Caroline Kennedy said.
‘I’ve listened to him. I know him. I have no idea why anyone thinks he should be president. What I do know is his candidacy is an embarrassment.’
RFK plunged to new depths of conspiracy theories last month when he claimed that Covid-19 was ‘ethnically targeted’ and that ‘the people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.’
The 2024 hopeful defended himself while testifying before the House Select Committee on ‘weaponization’ at the end of July.
He told the committee that he has ‘never uttered a phrase that was either racist or antisemitic’ and was not an anti-vaxxer.
‘I’m subjected to this new form of censorship, which is called targeted propaganda, where people apply pejoratives like ‘anti-vax.’ I’ve never been anti-vaccine,’ he said.
Schlossberg’s mother Caroline, the only surviving child of JFK, is supporting Biden. She’s currently serving as the U.S. ambassador to Australia.
Former Reps. Joe Kennedy III and Patrick Kennedy have also backed Biden, as has Victoria Kennedy, the widow of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.
The family is no stranger to controversies and internal strife.
RFK’s uncle President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963.
His father Bobby Kennedy was gunned down in 1968 while mounting his own presidential bid.
Both were embroiled in alleged extramarital affairs and other political controversies.
The 2024 candidate also reflected on the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington on Monday.
RFK told DailyMail.com that he was proud of his father and uncle’s critical roles in organizing the march.
Kennedy family criticism of RFK Jr.’s primary campaign against Joe Biden doesn’t bother him: ‘We were raised arguing’ but ‘still love each other,’ the presidential hopeful says
President John F. Kennedy visits with his nephew, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
President JFK listens to his nephew Bobby Kennedy Jr. – known as RFK Jr.
Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a hearing with the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Capitol Hill
‘My father played an important role in organizing and working with Martin Luther King to organize that march – my father and my uncle,’ he said.
‘Yesterday we had three African-American Americans murdered by a white racist in Jacksonville.’
‘So it’s a reminder that we still have a long way to go,’ he continued.
A shooting at a Florida Dollar General store in Northwest Jacksonville which left three black people dead was ‘racially motivated,’ officials said.
The incident, which also saw the white gunman die from a self-inflicted gun wound, on Saturday is being investigated as a hate crime by the FBI and local authorities.
The suspected shooter, in his 20s, used an assault rifle covered in Nazi swastikas in the attack, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office
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