NEED TO KNOW
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. first decided to announce his run for president in 2023, one of his late mother Ethel Kennedy’s first phone calls was to his opponent in the race, then-President Joe Biden.
A new report from New York magazine, published on Aug. 25, details the complicated relationship between the widow of late Democratic Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and her son, who is now Donald Trump’s secretary of health and human services.
When RFK Jr. announced his candidacy — running as a Democrat at the time — Ethel called Biden to apologize “for her wayward son,” as the outlet put it.
“You don’t have to,” Biden reportedly replied to Ethel. “I know about these things.”
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According to the report, Ethel and Biden had a long lasting friendship that spanned decades, and she expressed disappointment when her son decided to challenge him in a bid for the presidency — particularly because of her dedication to the Democratic Party.
“The one who was brokenhearted — and the family won’t talk about it, but I saw it up close — was Ethel,” a longtime family friend told the magazine.
In a statement released by his sister Kerry in 2023, she appeared unsupportive of his political aspirations, writing, “I love my brother Bobby, but I do not share or endorse his opinions on many issues, including the COVID pandemic, vaccinations, and the role of social media platforms in policing false information.”
She also made clear that, though he shares a name with RFK, the younger Bobby does not reflect “or influence” the work of RFK Human Rights, the organization she runs in honor of her father.
RFK Jr.’s youngest brother, Doug Kennedy, a correspondent for FOX News Channel, also told PEOPLE in 2023 that his brother “has immense political talent,” but that while he’s loved in the family, “not everyone agrees with his positions.”
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A number of other family members opposed RFK Jr.’s bid for office, and in March 2024, a few dozen Kennedys showed up for a St. Patrick’s Day photo op at the White House with Biden. A few weeks later, according to New York magazine, six of his eight siblings got onstage with Biden to declare their support for him.
“When you have seven or eight people trying to figure out a statement about their brother, it’s not easy,” Stephen Smith Jr., whose mother, Jean, was JFK’s sister and Bill Clinton’s ambassador to Ireland, told New York. “The St. Patrick’s thing emerged as the easiest way to make a statement.”
Additionally, when RFK Jr. later endorsed Trump for president, a few of his siblings released a statement calling his endorsement “a sad ending to a sad story.”
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Details about Ethel and former president Biden’s friendship have been made public in the past. According to New York magazine, Biden called the late Kennedy to wish her happy birthday each year, including her 95th birthday, which was just one week before RFK Jr. announced his presidential run.
“@Potus just called to wish Grandma Ethel happy birthday,” Ethel’s daughter Kerry Kennedy wrote on social media at the time. “He was 35,000 feet above the earth with @JoeKennedyiii, U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland. He said how much of a difference Joe K is making, especially on economic development in Northern Ireland, and how happy he is to be traveling with Joe K today on the way to Belfast.”
Ethel died at 96 years old on Oct. 10, 2024, “from complications related to a stroke,” according to a statement from Kerry.
