RFK Jr.'s siblings blast him over plans to stand against Joe Biden as an independent

Robert F. Kennedy Jr's siblings have furiously attacked his decision to run in his presidential election campaign as an independent candidate against Joe Biden, who branded it "dangerous to our country".

Kennedy is a member of arguably the most famous Democratic family in politics. He had been running a primary bid and had better favorability ratings among Republicans than Democrats.

But Monday, he said in Philadelphia: "I'm here today to declare myself an independent candidate for president of the United States."

This decision has come under furious attack from his own family, who have released a damning statement signed by former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D), former Rep. Joseph Kennedy, Rory Kennedy, and Kerry Kennedy.

It reads: "The decision of our brother Bobby to run as a third-party candidate against Joe Biden is dangerous to our country.

READ MORE: 'I fell for a con man' Omarosa slams former boss Donald Trump in dramatic U-turn

"Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment. Today’s announcement is deeply saddening for us. We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country."

In the accompanying post on X (formerly Twitter), Kerry Kennedy, who is president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, wrote: "Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment.

"Today's announcement is deeply saddening for us. We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country."

But this is not the first time RFK Jr has come under attack from his own siblings, with three relatives previously lashing out and branding his anti-vaccination advocacy "wrong" and "dangerous".

In an op-ed published on the Politico website in August 2019, Kennedy’s niece Maeve Kennedy McKean, as well as Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, said that recent spikes in preventable diseases, "are caused by the growing fear and mistrust of vaccines—amplified by internet doomsayers."

The three Kennedy family members warned despite RFK Jr's work on environmental advocacy, his opposition to vaccinations, had helped spread "dangerous misinformation" about vaccines through social media and was "complicit in sowing distrust of the science behind vaccines".

Meanwhile, a new poll for Daily Express US revealed Donald Trump would beat Joe Biden and win the presidential election in 2024 if Robert RFK Jr. decides to run as an independent candidate.

More than half (58 percent) of Democratic voters in the latest Democracy Institute/Daily Express US poll said they would vote for Biden in their state's 2024 Democratic presidential primary.

But what is most telling is that RFK Jr. was clear in second place with 27 percent of the vote - indicating that if he did run as an independent, he could take a massive chunk of Democratic support away from Biden in the final polling.

Furthermore, the 1,500 participants in the poll from October 3-5 were asked who they would vote for in the presidential election if it was between Democrat Biden, Republican Donald Trump, and independent RFK Jr.

Former president Trump came out on top with 44 percent, ahead of bitter rival Biden at 44 percent and fellow Democrat RFK with 11 percent.

Follow our social media accounts here on facebook.com/ExpressUSNews and @expressusnews