Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted the controversial TV commercial to X, and pinned it to the top of his page on February 11 — the night of the Super Bowl. “Our momentum is growing. It’s time for an Independent President to heal the divide in our country,” he wrote alongside the spot that harkened heavily to John F. Kennedy’s famous ad. Even after publicly apologizing to members of his family, RFK Jr. left the 30-second spot pinned to the top of his page, where it stayed as of time of writing.
As mentioned in his apology tweet, the Super Bowl ad was paid for and made by the American Values Super PAC. According to Super PAC co-founder, Tony Lyons, the spot cost $7 million. Lyons believed the backlash for the commercial was a ploy to derail RFK Jr.’s presidential campaign. “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,” Lyons said in a statement to CBS News on February 12, a day after the commercial aired.
Just days before the RFK Jr. commercial aired, his campaign and the Super PAC came under fire for allegedly conspiring to collect votes. “The DNC is in no position to assert morality over anyone,” RFK Jr. wrote on X on February 9, in a since-deleted tweet (via The Hill). “It’s sad to see the party my family built crash and burn,” he added.
