PHILADELPHIA—President Joe Biden on April 18 traveled to Philadelphia, the final stop of his three-day tour of Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state, where he received the Kennedy family’s endorsement for his reelection campaign.
More than 15 members of the Kennedy family, who had previously criticized Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent bid for the White House, endorsed President Biden at a campaign event in Philadelphia.
Speaking at the event, Kerry Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy’s seventh child, praised the president, stating that reelecting him is the best way forward for the country.
“President Biden has been a champion for all the rights and freedoms that my father and uncle stood for. That’s why nearly every single grandchild of Joe and Rose Kennedy supports Joe Biden,” she said.
“In 2024, there are only two candidates with any chance of winning the presidency.”
Speaking at the event, President Biden thanked the Kennedys for the endorsement.
Six of Mr. Kennedy’s siblings stood alongside the president on stage at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in Philadelphia.
“I don’t want to become emotional. What an incredible honor to have the support of the Kennedy family,“ President Biden said. ”Most meaningful introduction I’ve ever gotten in my life.”
Mr. Kennedy entered the presidential race in April 2023, challenging President Biden for the Democratic Party nomination.
After encountering multiple hurdles by the DNC and accusing the organization of “rigging the primary” and not allowing any candidate to compete against President Biden, Mr. Kennedy announced he would run as an independent in October 2023.
Many have said that Mr. Kennedy’s third-party challenge threatens President Biden more than former President Donald Trump does.
Multiple times on the campaign trail, Mr. Kennedy has pointed out that he has more than 100 family members and said that many of them are working on his campaign.
Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, his daughter-in-law, is his campaign manager.
Mr. Kennedy responded in a social media post to his family members’ endorsement of President Biden.
“I hear some of my family will be endorsing President Biden today. I am pleased they are politically active—it’s a family tradition,” he wrote on social media platform X on April 18. “We are divided in our opinions but united in our love for each other.”
During a recent interview with CNN, Mr. Kennedy criticized President Biden, saying he is a bigger threat to democracy than President Trump.
“I can make the argument that President Biden is the much worse threat to democracy, and the reason for that is President Biden is the first candidate in history—the first president in history that has used the federal agencies to censor political speech, so to censor his opponent,” Mr. Kennedy said.
In March, the DNC announced the creation of a team to counter third-party and independent presidential candidates.
It hired Lis Smith, a veteran Democrat strategist who managed Pete Buttigieg’s unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign, to spearhead an aggressive communication plan to combat Mr. Kennedy, independent Cornel West, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
“I feel strongly that this is the most important election of our lifetime, and there’s so much at stake. And I do think it’s going to come down to a handful of votes in a handful of states,” she told CNN in March when asked about her comment.
Campaign Events in Pennsylvania
President Biden’s three-day tour of Pennsylvania started with a campaign event in his hometown of Scranton on April 16.In Scranton, the president highlighted a contrast between his economic agenda and that of his 2024 presidential rival and predecessor, former President Trump.
He also reiterated his push to raise taxes on the rich and big corporations.
“Folks, where we come from matters. When I look at the economy, I don’t see it through the eyes of Mar-a-Lago; I see through the eyes of Scranton,” President Biden said.
On April 17, he traveled to Pittsburgh, where he announced dramatically higher tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from China, a move likely aimed at pleasing blue-collar voters in the battleground state.
With 19 crucial electoral votes, the state is a key focus for the Biden campaign.
The campaign has said it believes it has a clear advantage in Pennsylvania for the 2024 election, and it is making significant investments in key voter groups, including black and Latino communities in the state.
Last month, for example, the campaign opened 14 offices in a single week, enlisted 1,700 volunteers, and formed key coalitions around the state to reach out to various demographics.
The campaign has seven offices in Philadelphia to mobilize voters and ensure a high turnout in November.
“In contrast, the Trump campaign still has no public presence—and across Pennsylvania, local media have reported there are no signs of the Trump campaign,” the Biden campaign said in a statement.
“The RNC was even forced to scrap plans to open a minority outreach office in Allentown, Pennsylvania.”
