In a deeply unsettling letter to lawmakers Tuesday, Caroline Kennedy, the cousin of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., warned senators not to confirm him as President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“I have known Bobby my whole life; we grew up together,” Caroline Kennedy wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. “It’s no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets because he himself is a predator.”
RFK Jr. is scheduled to testify at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday.
Caroline Kennedy also recalled how her cousin, whom she said is “addicted to attention and power,” used his charisma to drag those around him “down the path of drug abuse” — and a troubling youthful fascination with violence.
“His basement, his garage, his dorm room were the centers of the action where drugs were available, and he enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in the blender to feed his hawks,” she wrote. “It was often a perverse scene of despair and violence.”
Her son, Jack Schlossberg, also shared a video of her reading the letter:
In addition to what she deemed his disqualifying personal qualities, Caroline Kennedy argued that RFK Jr. also lacks the professional background to fulfill the daily responsibilities of the job.
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“He lacks any relevant government, financial, management or medical experience,” she wrote. “His views on vaccines are dangerous and willfully misinformed.”
On that second point, Caroline Kennedy noted that while RFK Jr. has dabbled in “conspiratorial half-truths” about vaccines and encouraged others not to vaccinate their children, he did vaccinate his own kids.
“Bobby preys on the desperation of parents of sick children,” she wrote, “vaccinating his own kids while building a following hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating theirs.”