Inside the Kennedy clan's bitter civil war: RFK Jr's allies trash his 'corrupt' family and claim his relatives are 'slandering him'

Allies of longshot, third-party presidential candidate RFK Jr. have slammed the activist politician's famous family for 'slandering' him as they come out forcefully in support of Joe Biden's campaign.

In mid-April, a group of more than a dozen strong Kennedys delivered a high-profile public endorsement to incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden at a rally in Pennsylvania - explicitly rejecting RFK Jr.'s White House bid.

A source close to RFK Jr.'s family conveyed to the New York Post the unacceptable nature of the Kennedy clan's actions.

'This is not a dinner party discussion at home among siblings. These people are slandering him,' they said. 'With a family like this, who needs enemies?'

In mid-April, a group of more than a dozen strong Kennedys delivered a high-profile public endorsement to incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden at a rally in Pennsylvania - explicitly rejecting RFK Jr.'s White House bid

The uniform endorsement had been anticipated since the month prior, when an even bigger version of the Kennedy clan stopped by the White House for a publicly documented St. Patrick's Day celebration.

Following the April endorsement event, during which Kerry Kennedy - the ex-wife of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and RFK Jr.'s younger sister - gave a rousing speech about her family's support for the current president, Joe Kennedy II 71, said he hopes his brother drops out of the race.

'We cannot do anything that in any way, strips even one vote from President Biden. You put the name Kennedy on the ballot and Democrats are going to feel torn. 

'We are trying to make them understand that this is an issue that they do not have to feel torn about,' said Joe, who served in the US House of Representatives for more than a decade.

In late 2023, four of RFK 'Bobby' Jr.'s siblings, including Kerry and Joe, called his campaign 'dangerous to our country' insofar as it could endanger Biden's ability to win a second term.

At the time, the siblings released a statement saying: 'Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment.'

'We denounce his candidacy.'

The family's increasingly public rebuke of Bobby's political aspirations have prompted some in his inner circle to begin speaking out against the often scandalous group.

'RFK Jr. is a corruption fighter just like his father and uncle. The family members who have stood against him when instructed to do so show their lack of integrity, backbone and honor,' said Tony Lyons, a close confidante of Kennedy and president of conservative publishing company Skyhorse Publishing.

'They are part of the corruption that RFK Jr. has been fighting with all his heart for the past 40 years.' 

Kerry Kennedy delivered her family's endorsement of President Joe Biden in April, describing him as a man who 'runs into flames,' cementing the clan's break with her older brother RFK Jr.

President Joe Biden has welcomed the endorsement of the Kennedy clan as he competes in swing states that a third party bid could badly upset

Many Kennedy family members have disavowed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his skepticism about vaccines and promotion of fringe political beliefs

Various members of the family have also taken a strong oppositional stance to Bobby's intense vaccine skepticism, an issue that has caused further division among the famously troubled family.

In a 2019 Politico article, several family members wrote that RFK Jr. is 'tragically wrong about vaccines.'

Other issues that deepen the ongoing rift include Bobby's marginal theories about his father's convicted killer, Sirhan Sirhan, who was paroled several years ago to the objection of nearly all members of the family.

RFK Jr. has said that he does not believe Sirhan acted alone in assassinating his father, Robert F. Kennedy Sr.,' who was killed on the presidential campaign trail in 1968.

The environmental attorney-turned presidential candidate broke with his mother's wishes to condemn Sirhan's parole, though any rift that decision caused did not seem apparent during a recent family gathering at the Kennedy compound to celebrate the matriarch's 96th birthday.

Despite public political differences, RFK Jr. said, following the Pennsylvania rally, that he is pleased his family is remaining politically active - as is the family tradition.

He added that the family is 'divided in our opinions but united in our love for each other.'

More of President Joe Biden's 2020 voters have shifted their support to independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. than those who supported former President Donald Trump four years ago the March DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners national survey found 

In the last several weeks, the DNC has launched a team designed to quash third party candidates - specifically Kennedy's - by hurling legal challenges and opposition research at their operations

The major question disturbing the once-great American family is whether RFJ Jr.'s candidacy will effectively spoil Biden's White House bid, thereby handing a second term to former President Donald Trump.

Following Kennedy's selection of his BP last month, Nicole Shanahan - a Silicon Valley attorney and ex-wife to Google co-found Sergey Brin - top Biden supporters inside the Democratic party began pressing the panic button over the RFK threat.

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis said that the party is 'doing everything in our power to get President Biden and Vice President Harris reelected.'

But, 'it's critical that we take seriously every possible obstacle to that goal. And let me be clear, that's exactly what Robert F. Kennedy is in this election. He's a spoiler.'

Michigan state Senator Mallory McMorrrow reflected last month on the potentially 'horrifying' impact Kennedy's campaign could have on Biden's chances in her state - a swing state carried by Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020.

Spinning his own version of an election conspiracy theory, California Congressman Robert Garcia said: 'I think he's (RFK Jr.) likely interested in trying to get Donald Trump elected. Maybe that's what this is about. And many of us are not sure, but he is someone that should not be taken seriously as a serious person.'

In the last several weeks, the DNC has launched a team designed to quash third party candidates by hurling legal challenges and opposition research at their operations.

Recent rounds of polling suggest that Kennedy, as well as third party candidates Dr. Jill Stein and Dr. Cornel West, would poach needed votes from both major party candidates - but Biden would be at risk of losing more support.

The most recent RealClearPolitics poll average shows that in a three-way contest, Kennedy could receive 15 percent of the vote.

In that case, the poll shows Trump leading Biden by four points.

In a five-way race that includes West and Stein, Kennedy clocks in with 11 percent of the vote, leaving Trump with a 2 point lead over Biden.