Cheryl Hines blasts Joe Biden for withholding Secret Service protection for husband Robert F. Kennedy Junior, during his presidential bid

As Robert F. Kennedy Junior rises above 20 per cent in major polls, wife Cheryl Hines slams Joe Biden for risking his life by withholding secret service protection.

Actress Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Hines said ‘If he does get secret service, then that’s admitting that yes, he’s a viable candidate, and I don’t think the administration wants to admit that yet’. Picture: Getty

Actor Cheryl Hines has blasted Joe Biden’s refusal to give her husband Robert F Kennedy secret service protection during his presidential bid as “ridiculous”, as the former Democrat’s popularity rises above 20 per cent in major national polls.

In her first major interview on her husband’s White House bid, the Curb Your Enthusiasm star accused the Biden administration, of risking her husband’s life for political reasons, as he seeks to derail a likely rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

“It’s hard for me to say why he hasn’t been given Secret Service protection because Barack Obama got it 551 days out, and Teddy Kennedy received Secret Service protection 441 days out [from the 1980 presidential election,” she told CNN on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).

“If he does get secret service, then that’s admitting that yes, he’s a viable candidate, and I don’t think the administration wants to admit that yet, which is really unfortunate, ridiculous,” Hines, who married RFK in 2014, added.

With less than a year to go until next November’s presidential election Mr Kennedy, who launched his campaign as an independent last month in Philadelphia after initially running as a Democrat, is the only independent candidate successively polling above 15 per cent nationally.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Cheryl Hines on stage after announcing his candidacy for President in Boston, Massachusetts. Hines said their Los Angeles home had been invaded ‘several times’ by trespassers looking for her husband. Picture: AFP

“I’m very, very concerned because of his family’s history, because of the state of the world right now, it’s scary”, Hines, 58, added, noting their Los Angeles home had been invaded “several times” by trespassers looking for her husband.

A man with a gun impersonating a US marshal was also arrested at a Kennedy campaign event in Los Angeles in September.

Mr Kennedy’s father, former attorney general Robert Kennedy, and uncle, former president John F Kennedy, were assassinated in 1968 and 1963, respectively.

Amid a series of polls showing a large majority of Americans do not want a Biden-Trump rematch, the most likely scenario for now, a Harvard University/Harris poll conducted this month gave Mr Kennedy, 69, 22 per cent support in a three-way contest against 36 per cent for President Biden and 42 per cent for Mr Trump.

A more recent New York Times/Sienna poll gave the former scion of the Democratic Party between 22 and 26 per cent support in six critical swing states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia, and showed him well ahead of Mr Biden and Trump among 18- to 44-year-olds.

The US Secret Service on its website states protection is automatically offered to “major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election”.

Hines also confirmed her husband had offered to separate from her to protect her from personal attacks stemming from his controversial stances on vaccines, especially for Covid-19, which he argues haven’t been subjected to rigorous enough testing.

Hines said her husband had offered to separate from her to protect her from personal attacks. Picture: Getty

“Bobby is a very caring person and he could see that what he was doing, you know, being out there on the front line was difficult for me because I was hearing it from both sides,” she said.

The former environmental lawyer’s campaign, which has been denounced by four of his siblings, advocates a mix of traditionally ‘left’ and ‘right’ causes, including abortion rights, free speech, tougher policing of the border with Mexico, action to protect the environment, amid anti-war stances alongside strong support for Israel.

“He did not want to see me go through that, he said maybe we should just, I could be separate, but I said no”.

In an interview with PBS last week Mr Kennedy said he was in a better position than Mr Trump or Mr Biden.

pic.twitter.com/9mdrimBawU

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) November 10, 2023

“All I need to do in those [swing states] is get 34 per cent of the vote and I can walk away 270 electors, because it’s winner take all”, he said, referring to the number of electoral college votes required to win the presidency.

“I’m at 22 per cent now a year out and nobody has ever been, that I know of in our history, has ever been this high in the polls this far out”.

Ross Perot, the last major independent candidate to run for president, won 19 per cent of the national vote in the 1992 election between Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr.