Kennedy family repudiates Robert Kennedy Jr. after Super Bowl 2024 ad mirrors JFK campaign

The Kennedy family disavowed a campaign ad from Robert Kennedy Jr. that ran during the Super Bowl Sunday.

The ad, created and ran by American Values Super PAC, splices images of Kennedy Jr. into an ad that is similar to the "Kennedy for Me" ad the Kennedy campaign ran in 1960.

"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," Bobby Shriver, the son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, said on X, formerly Twitter.

The ad is the pinned tweet on Kennedy's X profile as of Monday afternoon. The ad cost $7 million to run, according to a statement by American Values.

Kennedy, who is a long-time anti-vaccine activist and has been caught making antisemitic statements, apologized on X saying, "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."

Kennedy family repudiates ad on Twitter

American Values PAC responds

American Values PAC attempted to tie Kennedy Jr. to the legacy of John F. Kennedy over the objections of the rest of the family in a statement released Monday with Tony Lyons, American Values PAC co-founder saying, "like his uncle and his father, Kennedy is a corruption-fighter."

"The panicked DC power brokers are working overtime to keep Kennedy off the ballot because they know he can and will end their culture of greed and corruption. They offer us soaring inflation, forever wars, and chronic disease. RFK Jr offers us real change along with freedom, trust and hope," Lyons said in the statement.

The most recent poll that includes the independent candidate from AtlasIntel shows Kennedy receiving 5% of responses in a race that features Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kennedy family repudiates Robert Kennedy Jr. after Super Bowl 2024 ad