section_path: Political views/Political endorsements
section_name: Political endorsements
paragraph_text: Political endorsements
  
  Kennedy worked on his uncle Sargent Shriver 's 1976 presidential campaign in Massachusetts, and later was on the national staff and a state coordinator for his uncle Ted Kennedy's 1980 presidential campaign.
  
  Kennedy endorsed and campaigned for Vice President Al Gore during his 2000 presidential campaign and openly opposed Ralph Nader 's Green Party presidential campaign.
  
  In the 2004 presidential election, Kennedy endorsed John Kerry, noting his strong environmental record. After Kerry lost the election to George W. Bush, Kennedy wrote an article for Rolling Stone falsely claiming that the results were fraudulent and that the election was stolen from Kerry, basing his argument on discrepancies between exit polling and reported results in swing states such as Ohio, as well as voter disenfranchisement.
  
  In late 2007, Kennedy and his sisters Kerry and Kathleen endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries. After the Democratic Convention, Kennedy campaigned for Obama across the country. After the election, the Obama administration was reportedly considering Kennedy for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, but felt his controversial statements and arrest for heroin possession in the 1980s made him unlikely to win Senate confirmation.
  
  In 2016, Kennedy called supporters of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump "belligerent idiots" and suggested that some were "outright Nazis". He has also characterized Trump as a "bully" and a "threat to democracy", comparing him to Adolf Hitler and George Wallace.
  
  In 2024, Kennedy endorsed Trump for president at a Trump campaign rally in Arizona.
  
  Kennedy worked on his uncle Sargent Shriver 's 1976 presidential campaign in Massachusetts, and later was on the national staff and a state coordinator for his uncle Ted Kennedy's 1980 presidential campaign.
  
  Kennedy endorsed and campaigned for Vice President Al Gore during his 2000 presidential campaign and openly opposed Ralph Nader 's Green Party presidential campaign.
  
  In the 2004 presidential election, Kennedy endorsed John Kerry, noting his strong environmental record. After Kerry lost the election to George W. Bush, Kennedy wrote an article for Rolling Stone falsely claiming that the results were fraudulent and that the election was stolen from Kerry, basing his argument on discrepancies between exit polling and reported results in swing states such as Ohio, as well as voter disenfranchisement.
  
  In late 2007, Kennedy and his sisters Kerry and Kathleen endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries. After the Democratic Convention, Kennedy campaigned for Obama across the country. After the election, the Obama administration was reportedly considering Kennedy for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, but felt his controversial statements and arrest for heroin possession in the 1980s made him unlikely to win Senate confirmation.
  
  In 2016, Kennedy called supporters of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump "belligerent idiots" and suggested that some were "outright Nazis". He has also characterized Trump as a "bully" and a "threat to democracy", comparing him to Adolf Hitler and George Wallace.
  
  In 2024, Kennedy endorsed Trump for president at a Trump campaign rally in Arizona.