Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took partial credit Monday for several dozen members of his family meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House on St. Patrick’s Day, telling NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo that he’s happy to have “played a role” in bringing about the visit.

Kennedy initially challenged Biden for the Democratic nomination and is now running as an independent, though his candidacy is opposed by several relatives in part due to his conspiratorial attitudes that include vaccines. A Super Bowl ad by a pro-Kennedy Super PAC ripping off John F. Kennedy’s 1960 campaign spot didn’t help matters, either.

Kennedy reacted to the photo first by downplaying the size of the group gathered around Biden, which he said was “a very small percentage of my family.”

“Last July 4, I think there were 105 people at the Cape,” he told Cuomo, adding that “many other family members are working for my campaign” and “many other family members support it.”It wasn’t immediately clear which staffers Kennedy was referencing.

“President Biden is an old friend of my family,” he went on, acknowledging that longtime bond. “I understand that many of them disagree with me on the war in Ukraine. They disagree with me on COVID, on some of the public health issues. They disagree with me on the free speech issue. So, you know, we can disagree with each other in a friendly way and still love each other. They look very happy in that photograph. And you know, it’s very exhilarating—it's intoxicating— being in the White House.”

Kennedy then hinted at his status as black sheep of his family.

“I played a role, I think, in facilitating that visit to the White House and bringing them all such happiness, so I’m happy about that,” he said. “I do hope at least a couple of them took the time to talk to President Biden and ask him to provide me with Secret Service protection. So that’s my hope.”

Earlier this month, Kennedy’s presidential campaign asked for Secret Service protection for a fifth time, according to Newsweek, after being most recently denied in February by Homeland Security Director Alejandro Mayorkas.