RFK Jr.'s sister says Trump endorsement left her "disgusted"

Robert F. Kennedy's sister has said that his endorsement of former President Donald Trump left her "disgusted."

"If my father were alive today, he would detest almost everything Donald Trump represents," Kerry Kennedy told CNN.

"His lying, his selfishness, his rage, his cynicism, his hatred, his racism, his fascist sympathies, his deliberate misinformation about vaccines, his criminal felony convictions, his contempt for the poor and suffering, for ethics, for democracy, and for his cruel sneering at human rights for suffering people in America and around the world, which is the cause that so moved and motivated my father.

"I'm outraged and disgusted by my brother's embrace of Donald Trump. I love my brother, but this is an outrage," she said.

Newsweek has contacted Kennedy Jr. and the Trump campaign via email for comment.

At a press conference on Friday, Kennedy Jr. announced he was suspending his presidential campaign and endorsing Donald Trump. "In my heart, I no longer believe that I have a realistic path to electoral victory," Kennedy said. "I cannot in good conscience ask my staff and volunteers to keep working their long hours or ask my donors to keep giving, when I cannot honestly tell them that I have a real path to the White House."

He said that while he and Trump do not agree on everything, the former president had "brought together people from across the political spectrum grounded in the values of his father, Robert F. Kennedy, a great man, and his uncle John F. Kennedy."

"Our children are the unhealthiest, sickest in the world. Don't you want healthy children? Don't you want the chemicals out of our food?" Kennedy Jr. asked the crowd. "That's what President Trump told me that he wanted."

Following his announcement, Kennedy Jr.'s family members, who condemned him when he first launched his campaign, released a statement that called the endorsement a "betrayal."

"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," the statement read, adding that the alliance with Trump is "a sad ending to a sad story."

Jack Schlossberg, former President John F. Kennedy's grandson, said on Friday on X that RFK Jr. was "for sale" and "works for Trump."

"Kamala Harris is for the people — the easiest decision of all time just got easier," he added.

During the election campaign, Trump and Kennedy Jr. publicly feuded on multiple occasions, with Trump slamming him as "not a serious candidate," dismissing the idea of debating him.

Meanwhile, Kennedy Jr. called Trump "unhinged" earlier this year after a social media tirade from the former Republican president accused him of being a "Democrat plant" and a "wasted protest vote."

"RFK Jr is a Democrat 'Plant,'" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "A Vote for Junior' would essentially be a WASTED PROTEST VOTE, that could swing either way, but would only swing against Democrats if Republicans knew the true story about him."

Kennedy Jr. responded: "When frightened men take to social media they risk descending into vitriol, which makes them sound unhinged. President Trump's rant against me is a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims that should best be resolved in the American tradition of presidential debate."

In July, Kennedy Jr. was forced to apologize to Trump after his son leaked a phone call between the former President and Kennedy in which Trump discussed what President Biden said to him following an attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Kennedy Jr., who is the son of the late U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, initially filed candidacy papers for the Democratic nomination in April but later switched to running as an independent candidate.

Following his announcement that he was running for president, his family members released a statement denouncing him as "dangerous" and "perilous for our country".

Kennedy Jr. has previously been accused of amplifying conspiracy theories—most notably about the COVID vaccine. He reportedly claimed that the virus which causes COVID-19 was "ethnically targeted," which he has since denied.

Although he has suspended his campaign, Kennedy Jr. will remain on the ballot in some states.