Robert F Kennedy’s decision to abandon his unlikely independent run for the presidency and endorse Donald Trump has raised tensions, as his wife, Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines, comes under fire.

Hines, who married Kennedy in 2014, posted in support of her husband following his decision.

“I deeply respect the decision Bobby made to run on the principle of unity,” she said.

“It has been an eye-opening, transformative, and endearing journey.”

Cheryl Hines (left) is best known for appearing on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Photo: Getty

The online response to her post was anything but endearing, however, as media personalities and actors quickly accused her of being a Trump supporter.

“Way to stay silent while your lunatic husband throws his support behind the adjudicated rapist who brags about stripping women of their fundamental rights,” Bradley Whitford, an actor best known for appearing on The West Wing, tweeted at her.

“Gutsy. Great example for the kids. Profile in courage.”

Columnist and political scientist Norman Ornstein also joined in attacking Hines for her and her husband’s decisions.

“Now if you have even a shred of integrity, you will endorse Kamala Harris,” he said.

“Otherwise, you are signing on as a member of the Trump cult.”

Strangest of candidates

A Kennedy endorsing and stumping for a Republican may be a strange sight, but RFK Jr is no normal Kennedy.

Estranged from his extended family, his campaign has featured several bizarre and dark situations, ranging from responding to sexual assault allegations by reminding his supporters that he has always had “skeletons in the closet”, to recounting the time he found a dead bear and faked a bike accident in Central Park.

If Trump was hoping to beat the allegations that he and Vance are “weird”, then the endorsement from a man whose daughter revealed he once drove five hours to remove the head of a dead, beached whale, before attaching it with a bungee cord to the roof of the family minivan may not achieve the desired effect.

Kennedy, in an interview with Tucker Carlson, said that Hines had encouraged him to meet Trump after a mutual connection asked if he’d be interested in meeting him.

“I thought it would be a non-starter with Cheryl, so I called Cheryl up and she said you should hear them out,” he said.

“I flew out to Minneapolis the next day. I had a probably two-hour meeting with him.”

Hines is best known for playing Larry David’s wife (then ex-wife) on hit comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm.

David, who plays himself, regularly lambasts Trump in later seasons of the show.

Polarisation

Relatives and siblings of RFK Jr denounced their relative following the decision to endorse Trump, who has teased a cabinet position for a man who said he had a worm eat part of his brain.

Robert and Ethel Kennedy with RFK Jr and Kerry Kennedy. Photo: Getty

Kerry Kennedy, his sister, said their father Robert F Kennedy would be “terribly disappointed” in him.

“I love my brother, but this is an outrage,” Kerry Kennedy said.

“It concerns me deeply, first of all, for my brother, but it concerns me also for our country,” she said.

“The stakes this November couldn’t be higher, which is exactly why my whole family will be fighting so hard to re-elect Kamala Harris.”