Yahoo News Joe Biden Wishes Ethel Kennedy Happy Birthday from Air Force One, Days After RFK Jr. Launched 2024 Campaign
According to Ethel's daughter Kerry Kennedy, Biden "said that he loved the Kennedy family, they've all done such great things"
President Joe Biden made a special phone call from Air Force One on Tuesday, calling Kennedy family matriarch Ethel Kennedy — the widow of Robert F. Kennedy — to wish her a happy 95th birthday.
"@Potus just called to wish Grandma Ethel happy birthday," Ethel's daughter Kerry Kennedy wrote on Instagram. "He was 35,000 feet above the earth with @JoeKennedyiii, U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland. He said how much of a difference Joe K is making, especially on economic development in Northern Ireland, and how happy he is to be traveling with Joe K today on the way to Belfast."
In her Instagram post, Kerry added that the president told Ethel "he had two heroes sitting right by his desk, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King."
According to the post, Ethel replied, "We love you Joe and Joe!"
Biden's phone call to Ethel came one week after her son, Bobby Jr., filed paperwork to challenge him for the presidency in 2024 — a move that comes with mixed feelings in the Kennedy family, in part because of their close ties to the president.
Throughout his half-century career in politics, Biden has connected with multiple Kennedys on multiple fronts, including their shared Catholic faith, familiarity with loss and, of course, political influence.
In July 2022, Biden appointed JFK's daughter, Caroline Kennedy, to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Australia.
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In recent years, Bobby Jr., an environmental lawyer, has ostracized himself for becoming a vocal anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, spreading misinformation about vaccinations long before — and during — the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bobby Jr. has also criticized the U.S. government and U.S. former top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci's handling of the pandemic, releasing a 2021 book called The Real Anthony Fauci that accused the doctor of assisting in "a historic coup d'etat against Western democracy."
In a statement released by his sister Kerry last Thursday, she appeared unsupportive of his political aspirations, writing, "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 also made clear that, though he shares a name with RFK, Bobby Jr.'s views do not reflect "or influence" the work of RFK Human Rights, the organization she named for her father.
Bobby Jr.'s youngest brother, Doug Kennedy, a correspondent for FOX News Channel, told PEOPLE last week that his brother "has immense political talent," but that while he's loved in the family, "not everyone agrees with his positions."
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