The 69-year-old son of slain US Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY) has declared his candidacy for the US presidency. He joins self-help author and activist Marianne Williamson in posing a Democratic challenge to Biden in the 2024 race.
Promising to "heal the divide," Kennedy made the announcement before a crowd of several hundred at the Boston Park Plaza hotel in Massachusetts, although he lives in Los Angeles, California.
Although the Kennedy family has a long history as leading members of the Democratic Party, including the late former US President John F. Kennedy, Bobby, Jr. will face a steep uphill battle to elected office on the Democratic ticket. That is due in no small part to his strident opposition to vaccination, becoming an especially outspoken critic of the COVID-19 vaccination program instituted by Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump.
A poll conducted by Morning Consult conducted earlier this month found about 1 in 10 Democratic voters backs Kennedy, putting him generally ahead of Williamson but well behind Biden, who commands over 70% of the party's loyalty at present.
Rather than a life in elected office, Kennedy has worked as a lawyer, in particular taking up environmental causes. He has also been a sharp critic of US military interventionism overseas and a defender of Native American treaty rights.
He suffers from a neurological disorder called spasmodic dysphonia, which causes spasms in the muscles in the voice box, making his voice tremble and sound raspy. However, the disorder has not prevented him from making public appearances and speeches.
His father, Robert "Bobby" Kennedy, served as US Attorney General and as a US senator from New York before being assassinated in 1968, during his own presidential campaign. Kennedy's untimely death ensured a Democratic defeat to Republican Richard Nixon that November, who ushered in a sharp change in US foreign and domestic policy.