Members of Cesar Chavez’s family endorsed President Biden’s reelection bid Friday, according to the Biden campaign.
The endorsement comes ahead of a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. event Saturday invoking the famous labor leader. The independent candidate is hosting a campaign event in Los Angeles titled “celebrating the life & legacy of Cesar Chavez.”
But the Biden team has ties to the Chavez family — the campaign manager for the 2024 cycle is Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the granddaughter of Chavez.
Fernando and Paul Chavez, the labor leader’s sons, made the endorsement, CBS first reported. Paul Chavez told the outlet: “the bonds of affection and respect for a president who by his character and actions consistently reflects the genuine legacy of my father.”
Biden has displayed a bust of Cesar Chavez, who co-founded the United Farm Workers union, in the office. Chavez Rodriguez, in a statement to CBS, said the bust is a reminder that Biden “understands the power of organizing and working people.”
Kennedy’s event Saturday advertises that Chavez was “a good friend of RFK and RFK, Jr.” and “was a legendary organizer of farmworkers and voters, who exercised their citizen power.”
Former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.) and Chavez had a history of working together in the 1960s. Kennedy in 1966 made a symbolic gesture to support Chavez’s cause by breaking bread with him to end the union’s days-long fast. In 1967, Kennedy joined migrant workers for a mass gathering to support Chavez, writing at the time that the labor leader was “one of the heroic figures of our time.”
“Today, we have an opportunity to take back our government with people power, We the People Power,” RFK Jr.’s event invite reads. The event title echoes former President John F. Kennedy’s ‘Viva Kennedy’ slogan from the 1960s to reach out to Mexican-American voters at the time.
Biden’s campaign last week launched a national program aimed at engaging and mobilizing Latino voters. He traveled to Nevada and Arizona last week, with a focus on Latino voters.