Caroline Kennedy’s blistering denunciation of cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — labeling him a “predator” who is “addicted to attention and power” and arguing his comments about vaccines have “cost lives” — is being met with amazement by some who know the family.
“It was a pretty fierce statement,” says a source close to the Democratic political dynasty.
“She’s so, so private and her speaking out — as harshly as she did — about her cousin is shocking,” this source tells PEOPLE, calling it “a complete departure for her.”
The source says they believe Caroline, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, was encouraged by her son, Jack Schlossberg, who has repeatedly called out the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s son.
Caroline, 67, had avoided directly criticizing her cousin, 71, whom the family calls Bobby. Other relatives, like Schlossberg, have been more vocal in making clear they don’t agree with his political views.
On Tuesday, Jan. 28, Caroline released a video statement through Schlossberg reading a letter that she also sent to the senators who are set to start questioning Bobby on Wednesday, Jan. 29, before ultimately voting on whether to confirm him to be President Donald Trump’s health secretary.
In her statement, Caroline assailed her cousin’s choices over the years and his lack of medical qualifications.
She suggested that in the past, his charisma masked something much darker — even recounting how he allegedly “enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in a blender to feed to his hawks.”
“It was often a perverse scene of despair and violence,” she said.
Caroline said her previous silence was for personal and professional reasons, growing up as one of “a close generation of 28 cousins who have been through a lot together.”
“I did not comment, not only because I was serving in a government position as United States ambassador to Australia, but because I have never wanted to speak publicly about my family members and their challenges,” she said. (She stepped down as an ambassador in November.)
But now, Caroline said, the country’s health care community, “for all its flaws,” deserves “a secretary committed to advancing cutting-edge medicine to save lives, not rejecting the advances we have already made.”
“They deserve a stable, moral, and ethical person at the helm of this crucial agency,” she said. “They deserve better than Bobby Kennedy — and so do the rest of us.”
Bobby has not publicly commented on Caroline’s attacks, and a representative for him did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
A lawyer and environmental advocate, Bobby is also a longtime critic of some vaccine and health care policies — despite the lack of evidence for his conspiratorial claims.
He has drawn scrutiny for his nomination to oversee the federal government’s health agencies, given his lack of medical or science training.
He plans to tell the Senate this week that he is not opposed to vaccines and to say his children are immunized, Bloomberg News reported.
According to a copy of his prepared remarks obtained by Bloomberg, he will testify that “in my advocacy I have often disturbed the status quo by asking uncomfortable questions. Well, I won’t apologize for that. We have massive health problems in this country that we must face honestly.”
A former Democrat, he campaigned with Trump in last year’s election on a platform to “make America healthy again,” going after pharmaceutical companies and other parts of the health care industry. His positions have also stoked controversy.
In order to be confirmed as the health secretary, he will need at least 50 senators’ votes — and Vice President JD Vance to break the tie.
Republicans have a majority in the Senate over Democrats by only a view members, with the chamber split 53-47. That means four “no” votes from the GOP along with all 47 Democrats would block Bobby’s nomination.
The source who knows the Kennedy family says it’s an open question whether or not Caroline’s criticisms hold weight these days.
“In some ways,” says the source, “it’s too little and too late.”
