(The Hill) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apologized to his family members after a super PAC backing his independent bid for the White House aired a commercial during the Super Bowl on Sunday night.
“I’m so sorry if the Super Bowl advertisement caused anyone in my family pain. The ad was created and aired by the American Values Super PAC without any involvement or approval from my campaign. FEC rules prohibit Super PACs from consulting with me or my staff. I love you all. God bless you,” Kennedy Jr. wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
American Values 2024 ran a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl that heavily relied on imagery from former President John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign. PAC co-chair Tony Lyons confirmed to The Hill that the ad, which appeared just before the halftime show, cost $7 million.
Despite Kennedy’s apology and his claim that his campaign was not involved, the ad remained pinned to the top of his X profile as of Monday morning.
Bobby Shriver, Kennedy’s cousin, had criticized the ad in a post on X on Sunday.
“My cousin’s Super Bowl ad used our uncle’s faces- and my Mother’s. She would be appalled by his deadly health care views. Respect for science, vaccines, & health care equity were in her DNA. She strongly supported my health care work at @ONECampaign & @RED which he opposes,” Shriver wrote.
The super PAC has faced scrutiny in recent days after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) accused Kennedy’s campaign of illegally coordinating with the organization last week. Kennedy pushed back on the allegations in a post on X.
“After the day they had yesterday, it’s understandable they’d want to put the focus on someone else,” Kennedy wrote Friday. “The DNC is in no position to assert morality over anyone — they refused to have a primary and have worked against the will of the people in the past few elections. It’s sad to see the party my family built crash and burn.”
Kennedy launched his campaign for the White House last year as a Democrat but switched to an independent bid in the fall.
He is significantly trailing in a hypothetical three-way race with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s polling average, which shows Trump leading the field with about 40 percent of support, Biden with 36 percent and Kennedy with about 8 percent.
