Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during a wide-ranging interview that his father, the late Robert F. Kennedy, would be proud of his 2024 campaign.
Kennedy said his father would “strongly support” him and his White House run.
“I can’t think of a single issue that my dad felt strongly about that, you know, I wouldn’t check the same box,” he said in his interview with USA Today published Monday, like fighting corruption, reining in government power, saving the environment and ending wars.
The long-shot candidate, who is vying to be included in CNN’s debate set for June 27, added that the Democratic Party has shifted over time compared to when he was coming up.
Kennedy said he has a firm grasp on the policy positions of his father, who was killed in 1968.
“Americans are entitled to have their own version of who my father and my uncle, of what they would do on certain issues,” said Kennedy, who was 14 when the assassination took place.
“And I enjoy hearing those debates all the time,” he added. “I think I have a really clear understanding of where he came down on issues. And I’m very grateful that I believe I share his beliefs. And I share his values. And, you know, I’ve tried to live my life with the same kind of commitment to the same values.”
In mid-April, 15 members of the Kennedy family endorsed President Biden for the 2024 election, rebuking their relative’s Oval Office run.
“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, his younger sister, said at a press conference in Philadelphia.
A few days after nearly his entire family backed Biden, Kennedy said that he still loves them.
“Some of them don’t like the fact that I’m running,” he said. “I debated them with information and passion and not to hate each other because we disagreed with each other. I love my family, either way.”