RFK Jr. apologizes to family following Super Bowl ad echoing his uncle's 1960 campaign ad

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. apologized after a super PAC backing his independent presidential bid ran a Super Bowl ad echoing the one his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, used in his 1960 White House bid. 

"I'm so sorry if the Super Bowl advertisement caused anyone in my family pain," Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said Sunday on X, formerly Twitter. "The ad was created and aired by the American Values Super PAC without any involvement or approval from my campaign. FEC rules prohibit Super PACs from consulting with me or my staff. I love you all. God bless you."

The nostalgic 30-second ad used the same jingle and much of the same imagery that the former president used in his 1960 ad. 

A video of the advertisement is pinned to the top of Kennedy's X profile. 

The advertisement cost $7 million, American Values told Axios. 

"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," the super PAC's co-chair Tony Lyons said. "Like his uncle and his father, Kennedy is a corruption-fighter, and it's no wonder the DNC is trying every old trick and inventing new tricks to stop him."

Kennedy also directly apologized to his cousin, Bobby Shriver. 

"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," Shriver said on X, referencing Kennedy's skepticism of vaccines.  

"Bobby. I’m so sorry if that advertisement caused you pain," Kennedy responded on X. 

Follow Madeleine Hubbard on X or Instagram.