Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s cousin, Caroline Kennedy, despatched a letter to the Senate Tuesday imploring them to reject his nomination to steer the Division of Well being and Human Companies, saying he’s a “predator” and a recovering drug addict who’s now “addicted to attention and power.”
“I have known Bobby my whole life; we grew up together,” Kennedy, the one residing little one of former President John F. Kennedy, wrote within the letter, which she later learn on video. “It’s no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets because he himself is a predator.”
She despatched the letter in the future earlier than RFK Jr. will start his affirmation hearings earlier than the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Committee on Well being, Training, Labor, and Pensions.
In Kennedy’s searing letter, she attacked RFK Jr. for his private conduct and his lack of expertise, saying that each ought to disqualify him from main the nation’s well being care infrastructure. s
“He lacks any relevant government, financial, management, or medical experience. His views on vaccines are dangerous and willfully misinformed,” Kennedy mentioned, accusing him of inflicting the deaths of 80 kids in Samoa who died of Measles after he unfold anti-vaccine propaganda on the island.
“These facts alone should be disqualifying, but he has personal qualities related to this job, which for me pose even greater concern,” she continued.
Kennedy additionally addressed RFK Jr.’s heroin dependancy, saying that, whereas she commends him for being in restoration, he’s chargeable for getting different relations hooked on medicine.
“Siblings and cousins who Bobby encouraged down the path of substance abuse suffered addiction, illness, and death, while Bobby has gone on to misrepresent, lie, and cheat his way through life,” she mentioned.
She additionally shared a disturbing story about how RFK Jr. “enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in the blender to feed his hawks. It was often a perverse scene of despair and violence.”
This letter is just not the primary time Kennedy has criticized her cousin.
“I think Bobby Kennedy’s views on vaccines are dangerous, but I don’t think most Americans share them.” RFK Jr. falsely believes vaccines trigger autism, and docs concern that if he’s put in control of HHS he would pose “direct threat to the safety of our patients and the public at large,” she mentioned in November to an viewers in Australia, the place she served as ambassador within the Biden administration.
RFK Jr.’s siblings have additionally been crucial.
“Our brother Bobby’s determination to endorse Trump at present is a betrayal of the values that our father and our household maintain most pricey. It’s a unhappy ending to a tragic story,” they wrote in a joint assertion after he ended his presidential marketing campaign and endorsed Donald Trump.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talking at a Trump rally in October 2024.
It’s unclear whether or not RFK Jr. shall be confirmed. A handful of Republicans have expressed trepidation about supporting him, together with Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a polio survivor who has criticized RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine misinformation.
Sen. Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, mentioned that RFK Jr. might want to persuade her that he’s not pro-abortion to get her vote. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, additionally expressed concern about his anti-vaccine report.
RFK Jr. can afford to lose simply three GOP Senators’ votes to be confirmed as secretary of well being and human providers.
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