RFK Jr.’s Super Bowl Ad Was A Bizarre Attempt at Nostalgia

What is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threatening to spoil more—his family name or Joe Biden’s reelection bid? During Sunday evening’s Super Bowl, as part of his longshot independent bid for the presidency, RFK Jr. starred in an objectionable remake of his late uncle’s iconic 1960 campaign ad—drawing immediate blowback from members of his family, who were outraged that he’d used their images and family legacy to further his conspiracy-fueled third-party bid against the Democratic incumbent.

RFK Jr. issued a public apology to his family, writing that American Values—the Super PAC supporting him—created and aired the spot without his consultation. “I love you all,” said Kennedy, who has been accused by the Democratic National Committee in a Federal Election Committee complaint of illegally coordinating with his Super PAC. “God bless you.” But how sorry was he, really? As of this writing, the seven-million-dollar ad is still pinned to his X profile.

“Our momentum is growing,” he writes above the advertisement. “It’s time for an Independent President to heal the divide in our country.” But momentum may be too strong a word; in one recent poll, the vaccine-skeptic was projected to get about 24 percent of the vote in a match-up between Biden, Donald Trump, and fellow third-party contenders Jill Stein and Cornel West. That wouldn’t be enough to win, but it could be enough to complicate the overall race in November. And while there remains some question as to which of the major party candidates he’d hurt more, any wrinkle in the race is sure to provoke anxiety among Democrats as Trump runs to reclaim the White House on an authoritarian platform. “It’s time for everyone to take this seriously,” Democratic strategist Stephanie Cutter warned Sunday night.

If the Super Bowl ad was a reminder that RFK Jr. will continue to loiter around this race, it also underscored the absurdity of his campaign: Here is a man desperate to lay claim to his family’s political legacy to the potential benefit of an aspiring autocrat. As former Ted Kennedy speechwriter Bob Shrum put it Sunday, invoking the late Lloyd Bentsen’s line: “‘Bobby, you’re no John Kennedy,’” he wrote. “Instead you are a Trump ally.”

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