Kennedy family members endorse President Biden in a rejection of RFK Jr.

WASHINGTON ― Members of the Kennedy family, one of the most iconic names in Democratic politics, formally endorsed President Joe Biden's reelection bid Thursday in a firm rejection of their relative Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running for president as an independent.

The endorsement, which the Kennedy family made official at a Biden campaign rally in Philadelphia, is not a surprise. Several Kennedys had already made their support for Biden known, including by appearing with the president during a St. Patrick's Day celebration at the White House last month.

Yet the showing from the families of President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including six of his siblings, is an important display for Biden as his allies work to keep third-party candidates from siphoning off voters from their coalition.

"We want to make crystal clear our feeling that the best way forward for America is to reelect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to four more years," Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and the younger sister of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said at the event.

Kerry Kennedy delivered remarks on behalf of more than a dozen Kennedy family members.

She drew a parallel between Biden's fight to keep former President Donald Trump from returning to power to her father's political career.

"A vote for Joe Biden is a vote for our democracy and our decency. It is a vote for what my father called for in his own presidential announcement in 1968 'our right to the moral leadership of this planet,'" she said.

Biden said it was the "most meaningful introduction" he has ever received from anyone besides his sister Valerie.

"What an incredible honor," Biden said. "I don't want to become emotional, but what an incredible honor to have the support of the Kennedy family.

Among the Kennedys in attendance were former U.S. Reps. Joe Kennedy II and Joe Kennedy III, who currently serves as Biden's United States special envoy for Northern Ireland.

Other endorsers were: Beth Kennedy, Christopher Kennedy, Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, Vicki Strauss Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Kerry Kennedy Meltzer, Max Meltzer, Ted Kennedy Jr., Stephen Kennedy Smith, Peter McKelvy and Rebeca McKelvy.

Biden considerers Robert F. Kennedy, the late former U.S. senator from New York and attorney general, one of his political hero and displays his bust in the Oval Office.

He referenced the bust and the one of Martin Luther King Jr. in his remarks on Thursday. "I remind myself what they would do in tough calls," Biden said.

Even before Thursday's endorsement, several Kennedy family members publicly opposed Robert F. Kennedy's candidacy.

"Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment," Kerry Kennedy and three other siblings − Joseph Kennedy II, Rory Kennedy and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend − wrote in a statement after their brother announced his bid last October. "We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country."

In an interview on CNN this month, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. addressed the criticism of his family members. "I've got a big family. I don't know anybody in America who's got a family who agrees with them on everything," he said.

Kennedy currently has the support of 11.7% of likely voters nationally, according to a RealClearPolitics average of polls. That doesn't make him a serious contender to win the election. But his double-digit standing is more than enough to swing outcomes in battleground states − and Democrats are taking the threat seriously.

The Democratic National Committee recently brought on a legal team to scrutinize Kennedy's efforts to make it on the ballots in key swing states and expanded campaign operations to paint Kennedy as a radical conspiracy theorist who is getting boosted financially by a Trump Super PAC's largest donor.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kennedy family members endorse President Biden in blow to RFK Jr.