A video segment of Kerry Kennedy, sister of former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., condemning her older brother’s endorsement of GOP nominee Donald Trump, has gained traction on social media on Sunday.
The video segment shared to X, formerly Twitter, by Acyn, senior digital editor of the left-leaning network MeidasTouch, has received over 1.3 million views, 33,000 likes, and 8,500 reposts, as of Sunday evening.
Kerry Kennedy, a human rights lawyer and activist who serves as president of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights nonprofit organization that was founded in honor of her father, spoke with MSNBC‘s Jen Psaki, a former White House press secretary under President Joe Biden, in an interview appearance, two days after her brother dropped out of the race and endorsed the former president.
Prior to exiting the race on Friday, Kennedy Jr. was the highest polling third-party candidate in the campaign, garnering around 5 percent of the vote, according to national aggregate polls.
During her interview on Inside with Jen Psaki, Kerry Kennedy said that Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz are “champions for the values that my family has fought for years. Donald Trump is the polar opposite. He’s a threat to most basic freedoms.”
Photo by Bastiaan Slabbers/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images
Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign spokesperson, told Newsweek in an email Sunday morning in response to Max Kennedy’s Los Angeles Times opinion article that expressed similar sentiments to Kerry Kennedy: “President Trump is working to Save America from Comrade Kamala, and everyone should get on board. That’s why so many people from different political backgrounds have supported President Trump.”
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s campaign for updated comment via email on Sunday afternoon.
Like many of her other family members, Kerry Kennedy denounced her brother’s endorsement of Trump, saying she is “outraged and disgusted” by it. Five family members, including Kerry, posted a statement on Friday calling their brother’s endorsement a “betrayal” of their family values.
Kerry Kennedy initially endorsed Biden, but after his exit from the race on July 21, she shifted her support to Harris.
She, like her brother Max Kennedy in his opinion piece published earlier today, referenced their father, Robert F. Kennedy—the late Democratic politician and human rights advocate—and his legacy in their condemnation of their brother’s endorsement.
“If my dad were alive today, the real Robert Kennedy would have detested almost everything Donald Trump represents,” she told Psaki. She previously said similar comments on CNN yesterday.
The segment concluded with Kerry Kennedy saying, “I completely disavow and disassociate myself from Robert Kennedy Jr. and his flagrant and inexplicable effort to desecrate and trample and set fire to my father’s memory.”
Newsweek also reached out to Kennedy Jr.’s campaign for comment on Sunday.
Kerry Kennedy: I am disgusted by my brother’s obscene embrace of Donald Trump. And I completely disavow and dissociate myself from Robert Kennedy Jr. and his flagrant efforts to desecrate my father’s memory. pic.twitter.com/iW8pmRQRdn
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 25, 2024
Meghan McCain, a political commentator and daughter of the late Republican Senator John McCain, reshared Kerry Kennedy’s statement on X on Saturday and wrote: “I don’t support Trump and will not be supporting Trump but this family drama playing out so publicly is really quite trashy and beneath all of you for a family who considers itself the premier American political dynasty (despite being almost a century removed from power).”
I don’t support Trump and will not be supporting Trump but this family drama playing out so publicly is really quite trashy and beneath all of you for a family who considers itself the premier American political dynasty (despite being almost a century removed from power). https://t.co/m01a95QABE
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) August 24, 2024