Kennedy family members endorse Biden over RFK Jr.

More than a dozen members of the Kennedy family endorsed President Joe Biden for a second term Thursday, passing over family member Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

"We want to make crystal clear our feeling that the best way forward for America is to re-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to four more years," Kerry Kennedy said in remarks announcing the endorsement at a campaign event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

She made the endorsement on behalf of 15 Kennedy family members at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center alongside five of RFK Jr.’s other siblings, includingRory Kennedy, Joseph Kennedy II, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Christopher Kennedy and Maxwell Kennedy Sr.

The Kennedy family has stepped up its involvement in the Biden campaign, working to lift Biden's odds as Democrats worry that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s bid could pose a spoiler risk that could hand the election to former President Donald Trump.

Former Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, the independent candidate’s nephew, said in an interview that he believes his uncle’s “candidacy poses a threat to the country that I love and the values that I hold.”

“I believe that his candidacy is likely to divert support away from President Biden and end up increasing support for Donald Trump,” he said.

This endorsement has been “months in the making,” according to a source familiar with the Biden campaign’s planning, who added that family members came forward to “do something to show they’re united by the president."

"I hear some of my family will be endorsing President Biden today. I am pleased they are politically active — it’s a family tradition," Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a post on X. "We are divided in our opinions but united in our love for each other."

Kennedy Jr. claimed