In the wake of a surely painful, quite shocking, and betraying statement from members of the Kennedy family- Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Chris Kennedy, and Rory Kennedy – on Friday, August 23, former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. commented on them in a heartwarming way when speaking during an interview on Fox News that weekend.
The Kennedy family statement, as background, targeted RFK Jr. for his support of former President Donald Trump. In it, they said, in part, “We want an America filled with hope and bound together by a shared vision of a brighter future, a future defined by individual freedom, economic promise, and national pride. We believe in Harris and Walz. Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.”
Responding to that attack, RFK Jr. didn’t go on a blitz of a counteroffensive, instead noting that his family is deeply involved in Democratic politics, particularly at the national level. He went on to note, in his heartwarming response, that he understands their perspective, given how they were raised, and still loves them.
Beginning, he noted how involved in the Democratic Party his family, both living and dead, has been. He said, “My family is at the center of the Democratic Party. I have five members of my family that are working for the Biden administration. President Biden has a bust of my father behind him at the Oval Office. He’s been a family friend for many, many years.”
Continuing, he noted that his family was raised to treat debate about things as a good thing, even if that debate is ferocious, and that they all still love each other in the end. “We were raised in a milieu where we were encouraged to debate each other and debate ferociously and passionately about things, but just still love each other,” he said.
After that, he noted that while a number of them went on the record against him with the statement, as they are free to do, there are quite a few others who support him, even to the level of helping his campaign. On that note, Mr. Kennedy said, “They’re free to take their positions on these issues. There are many, many members of my family who are working in my campaign, who are supporting me. I have a very big family.”
He added that while some of those members of his family are obviously “troubled” by his announcement and haven’t supported him, he thinks being able to disagree about politics but then love each other in the end is quite a good thing. He said, “There’s a few of them that are troubled, but you know, I think we all need to be able to disagree with each other and still love each other.”
Watch Mr. Kennedy speak about the matter here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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