A Super Bowl ad promoting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s independent presidential candidacy and invoking President John F. Kennedy angered the Kennedy family.

“My cousin's Super Bowl ad featured my uncle's and my mother's faces. She would be appalled by his deadly medical views,” said Eunice, a former Santa Monica mayor. Bobby Shriver, son of Kennedy and Sargent Shriver, said: I wrote to X, formerly Twitter. “Her respect for science, vaccines, and health care equity was in her DNA. She was a strong supporter of my medical work. @ONE campaign & @red he is against it. ”

Former California first lady Maria Shriver reposted the message, writing that her brother Mark Shriver agreed with the message, calling it “very simple.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer known for promoting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, responded: apology.

“I am truly sorry if the Super Bowl ad caused any pain to anyone in my family,” he wrote to X. “This 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 all.”

However, he continued to advertise on his X feed and at one point pinned the ad to the top of his profile.

Bobby Shriver declined to comment.

The 30-second ad that aired Sunday is a modified version of the one-minute ad promoting John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign, replacing a photo of the late president with an image of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. It has been replaced with .

Political media buyers estimated the advertising cost at $6 million to $7 million.

Democrats have previously criticized the American Values ​​super PAC for receiving funding from major donors to former President Trump.

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who lives part of the year in Los Angeles with his wife, actor Cheryl Hines, originally announced his presidential bid, he said he would run as a Democrat. He has since announced that he will run as an independent, meaning he will not appear on the March 5 California primary ballot.

Candidates who are not affiliated with a political party will not appear on California's presidential primary ballot, but they can appear on the general election ballot if they submit more than 219,000 signatures (1% of the state's registered voters). It may be listed.