Maria Shriver is standing behind her cousin Caroline Kennedy amid her harsh criticism of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The day before their cousin’s confirmation hearing to lead President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services began, the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy went public with a scathing letter she sent to U.S. senators.
Her message was an unsparing rebuke of RFK Jr., whom she called a “predator” and an opportunist who was “unqualified” to helm America’s top health agency.
Not long after the letter was made public, Shriver, the daughter of Eunice Kennedy, appeared to endorse her cousin’s stance in a post on X.
“Courage is when you do something hard, heartbreaking, and painful… and you do it anyway,” Shriver wrote alongside a photo of her cousin. “Love you, Caroline. Always have, always will.”
During RFK Jr.’s Wednesday hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee, he was grilled about his views on abortion, Medicaid and the pharmaceutical industry by both Democrats and Republicans alike.
Some of the most explosive moments of the hearing came when the former independent candidate for president was pressed to clarify his stance on vaccines, which he has been a prominent skeptic of during his time in the public eye.
While Kennedy claimed he was not a vaccine opponent in his opening statement to the committee, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) reminded the controversial Cabinet nominee that he was contradicting some of his previous statements.
“Are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro-vaccine, or were you lying on those podcasts?” Wyden asked.
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Kennedy responded by claiming that, if confirmed, he had no plans to prevent Americans from accessing vaccines.
“I support the measles vaccine. I support the polio vaccine,” he told the committee. “I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking anything.”