President Joe Biden made a heartfelt phone call from Air Force One on Tuesday, reaching out to Kennedy family matriarch Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy, to wish her a happy 95th birthday.
Kerry Kennedy, Ethel's daughter, shared on Instagram, "@Potus just called to wish Grandma Ethel happy birthday." She added that the call was made while Biden was "35,000 feet above the earth with @JoeKennedyiii, U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland." The president praised Joe Kennedy III for his impact on economic development in Northern Ireland and expressed his happiness at traveling with him to Belfast.
In her Instagram post, Kerry mentioned that Biden told Ethel he had "two heroes sitting right by his desk, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King." Ethel's response was, "We love you Joe and Joe!"
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Biden's call to Ethel occurred a week after her son, Bobby Jr., filed paperwork to run against him in the 2024 presidential election. This move has elicited mixed emotions within the Kennedy family, partly due to their close relationship with the president.
Throughout his extensive political career, Biden has forged connections with various Kennedys, sharing common ground in their Catholic faith, experience of loss, and political influence. In July 2022, Biden appointed Caroline Kennedy, JFK's daughter, as the U.S. Ambassador to Australia.
Bobby Jr., an environmental attorney, has become estranged in recent years for promoting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and disseminating misinformation about vaccines before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also criticized the U.S. government and former top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci's pandemic response, publishing a 2021 book titled The Real Anthony Fauci that accused the doctor of participating in "a historic coup d'etat against Western democracy."
In a statement released last Thursday, Kerry expressed her lack of support for her brother's political ambitions, saying, "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 emphasized that Bobby Jr.'s opinions neither reflected nor influenced the work of RFK Human Rights, the organization she named after her father.
Doug Kennedy, Bobby Jr.'s youngest brother and a FOX News Channel correspondent, told PEOPLE last week that, although his brother possesses "immense political talent" and is loved within the family, "not everyone agrees with his positions."