The grandson of President John F. Kennedy on Friday called Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign “an embarrassment,” becoming the latest member of the famed Kennedy family to condemn the Democratic primary challenger to President Biden.
Jack Schlossberg, grandson of the former president and son of Caroline Kennedy, Biden’s ambassador to Australia, made the remarks in a 1 minute and 50 second video on social media.
Kennedy, Schlossberg said, is “trading Camelot, celebrity conspiracy theories and conflicts for personal gain and fame.”
He continued: “I know him. I have no idea why anyone thinks he should be president. What I do know is that his candidacy is a shame. Let’s not let ourselves be distracted, again, by someone’s vain project. I am excited to vote for Joe Biden in my state’s primary and again in the general election.”
Schlossberg, who did not respond to messages on Friday, has never run for public office, but spoke with her mother. in a recorded video for the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
A number of Kennedy family members have denounced Mr. Kennedy’s campaign in recent days, spurred on by his suggestion, caught on video and published by The New York Post, that the coronavirus was “ethnicly targeted” to save Jews and Chinese.
His sister, Kerry Kennedy, called the comments “deplorable and untrue,” and his brother, Joseph Kennedy II. told the Boston Globe that “your comments in no way reflect the words and actions of our father, Robert F. Kennedy.”
Former Representative Joseph Kennedy III wrote on Twitter“I unequivocally condemn what he said.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not respond to messages on Friday, nor did his campaign spokesman. On Twitter, he has defended himself against what he called “spurious accusations of anti-Semitism,” while noting support from conservative media outlets.
Mr. Kennedy has invoked his family’s legacy throughout his campaign. This month he posted a video of Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, detailing the history of the Kennedy family on Cape Cod.
From April to June, Kennedy’s campaign raised more than $6.3 million and had $4.5 million in cash at the end of June, according to the quarterly report he filed with the Federal Election Commission last week.
On Friday, one of the super PACs supporting Kennedy’s candidacy said it had raised more than $16.25 million since its founding this spring, including $5 million during Kennedy’s testimony Thursday on Capitol Hill.
The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee have taken a hands-off approach with Mr. Kennedy and his campaign. The campaign is operating on the belief that the more Democratic voters hear of Kennedy, the less he will appeal to them.
And indeed, Democratic primary voters seem to view Kennedy less favorably as he spreads misinformation and embraces right-wing ideas. His standing in Democratic primary polls, once top 20 percent, has slipped.
A Quinnipiac University survey of Democrats published this week found Biden leading Kennedy 71 percent to 14 percent. Only 21 percent of Democrats viewed Kennedy favorably, compared to 47 percent who viewed him unfavorably.
Kennedy’s performance in the polls may be due to a desire among some Democrats for an alternative to Biden: a survey published late last month by Echelon Insights, a Republican polling firm, found that Kennedy’s support among Democrats was the same in a head-to-head matchup with Biden as it was for Matthew McConaughey, the politically engaged actor not running for president.
Rebecca Davis O’Brien contributed reporting.