Following the release of a Super Bowl Ad that mimicked a 1960 campaign spot for his uncle John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apologized to his family.
Mr. Kennedy is an independent presidential candidate who practices environmental law and is an anti-vaccine campaigner.
The commercial ran on Sunday right before halftime of the Super Bowl.
A lively jingle that repeated the Kennedy surname fifteen times in thirty seconds was used, along with pictures of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. intercut with the original 1960 advertisement.
Who produced the Super Bowl Ad?
The Super Pac American Values 2024 political action group produced the advertisement. Super Pacs are not permitted to coordinate with campaigns, but they are permitted to raise and spend an infinite amount of money in favor of political candidates.
Tony Lyons, a co-founder of American Values 2024, claims that the spot cost $7 million (£5.5 million). Tim Mellon is one individual who has contributed $15 million to American Values 2024 Pac. Another significant donor to Pacs that backs Mr. Trump is Mr. Mellon.
A relative of Mr. Kennedy expressed disapproval of the advertisement and the candidate’s anti-vaccine stance.”Our uncles’ and my mother’s faces were used in my cousin’s Super Bowl commercial.” The son of President Kennedy’s sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Bobby Shriver, said in a post on X that “she would be appalled by his deadly healthcare views.” “Respect for science, vaccines, & health care equity were in her DNA.”
“I’m so sorry if the Super Bowl advertisement caused anyone in my family pain,” said RFK Jr. in response to a post. Without consulting my campaign or getting its consent, the American Values Super PAC produced and broadcast the advertisement. Super PACs are not allowed to consult with me or my team under FEC laws. I cherish each and every one of you. May God richly bless you.
On Monday morning, though, the advertisement was still at the top of the candidate’s X feed. The RFK Jr. campaign was “pleasantly surprised and grateful to the American Values Pac for running an ad during the Super BowlAd ,” spokesperson Stefanie Spear told CBS News.
What the advertisement was about?
The original advertisement tried to show John F. Kennedy as having a good mix of experience and youth. Kennedy, a Democrat and the youngest president to be elected faced Vice President Richard Nixon, a seasoned politician from the Republican Party, in 1960.
A memorable jingle from the original used the same lyrics as the most current Super Bowl Ad: “Do you want a man for president who’s seasoned through and through? A guy who is both youthful and knowledgeable enough to act?”
At seventy years old, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is about thirty years older than his uncle was in 1960. However, people have expressed anxiety about the 77-year-old Donald Trump and the 81-year-old Joe Biden, and he is younger than both of them.
Even with his well-known name, Mr. Kennedy lags far behind Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump in surveys. According to research, his support is essentially 10%.
The commercial, according to Kyle Kondik, a political analyst at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, capitalized on nostalgia, a topic that appears in many other Super Bowl commercials.
“And remaking a political ad from the 1960s is about as nostalgic as you can get,” he stated.
Polls on whether Mr. Kennedy’s entry into the campaign would deflect more support from Mr. Biden or Mr. Trump, or attract people who would not have supported either major party, are not quite consistent.
The leadership of the Democratic Party complained with the Federal Election Commission on Friday, alleging that the RFK Jr. campaign was too closely aligned with American Values 2024 in terms of attempting to place Mr. Kennedy on the ballot in all 50 states.
A Democratic Party spokeswoman referred to Mr. Kennedy as “nothing more than a Trump stalking horse in this race” in a statement that was made public on Sunday.
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