Joe Kennedy to endorse Warren during campaign announcement

Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.) is set to endorse Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for president when she formally announces her candidacy on Saturday, according to a person familiar with the plans.

Kennedy will make the announcement in a speech introducing Warren at an event in Lawrence, Mass., where she is expected to officially kick off her campaign for the White House. The planned endorsement was first reported on Friday by The Boston Globe.

{mosads}A spokesperson for Warren’s campaign did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

Kennedy, a rising star in the Democratic Party, will be among Warren’s first high-profile endorsers. 

While most lawmakers have so far withheld their endorsements in the nascent 2020 Democratic presidential primary, a handful of politicians have offered candidates their support. 

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) endorsed Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) last week after he threw his name into the primary contest.

And Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who announced her candidacy last month, has already secured endorsements from California lawmakers, including Reps. Ted Lieu (D) and Katie Hill (D). 

Kennedy’s endorsement could give Warren a boost as she seeks to move beyond the controversy surrounding her past claims of Native American ancestry. 

Criticism of those claims was renewed this week after The Washington Post published a copy of Warren’s 1986 registration card for the State Bar of Texas in which she identifies herself as “American Indian.”

Updated at 1:38 p.m.