Caroline Kennedy’s Letter Comes “Too Late,” Says Woman Who Accused RFK Jr. of Sexual Assault
For nearly two years, as members of the Kennedy family reluctantly spoke out to warn that their brother and cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was unfit for higher office, one voice remained notably absent: Caroline Kennedy, daughter of John F. Kennedy. The Kennedy family has long upheld an unwritten rule of silence on internal matters, whether involving personal tragedies or deeper scandals. Publicly denouncing one of their own has traditionally been off-limits. As the U.S. ambassador to Australia under the Biden administration, Caroline refrained from commenting, even as several of her cousins went on record with Vanity Fair to detail RFK Jr.’s troubling personal history and its implications for his political ambitions.
Now, with RFK Jr. on the verge of being confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services under Donald Trump’s administration, Caroline Kennedy has broken her silence. In a letter to the Senate nominating committee—accompanied by an Instagram video—she describes her cousin as a “predator” who, despite overcoming heroin addiction, has continued to “misrepresent, lie, and cheat his way through life.” (Vanity Fair reached out to RFK Jr., his spokesperson, and Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt, but received no response. An email to RFK Jr.’s personal account returned an automated message stating he was unable to reply due to a high volume of emails.)
Caroline’s letter follows strong condemnations from The Wall Street Journal editorial board and The New York Post, both Murdoch-owned outlets. Her cousin, Stephen Kennedy Smith, tells Vanity Fair that she consulted him before going public. “This is a McCarthy-era moment,” he recalls telling her. “Somebody has to tell the truth and show some guts”.
Kennedy’s public condemnation comes as an unexpected coalition of critics makes last-minute efforts to challenge RFK Jr.’s nomination—including Rupert Murdoch and even Mike Pence, an anti-abortion hardliner who has raised concerns over Kennedy’s shifting stance on reproductive rights.
Caroline Kennedy’s letter, first obtained by The Washington Post, presents a damning portrayal of RFK Jr. as a man “addicted to attention and power.” She calls him a hypocrite for spreading conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines while ensuring his own children were vaccinated. (The Washington Post also received no response from RFK Jr.) Caroline Kennedy recounts troubling memories of him dating back to the 1970s. “His basement, his garage, his dorm room were centers of activity where drugs were available, and he 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.”
“It’s no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets—he himself is a predator,” she wrote, urging the Senate to reject his nomination.
Caroline’s son, Jack Schlossberg, a political correspondent for Vogue (a Condé Nast publication like Vanity Fair), has been waging a months-long social media campaign against Kennedy Jr., directly calling on his family to speak out. Tensions between the Jack and Bobby lines of the family have existed for years—Vanity Fair previously reported that Jackie Kennedy Onassis forbade John and Caroline from associating with Bobby and his brothers during their more reckless years.
Still, Caroline’s decision to speak publicly is a major moment within the family. Stephen Kennedy Smith, who shares her concerns about RFK Jr., tells Vanity Fair, “Caroline represents everything our family should stand for.” He praises her “spotless record of public service” and describes her as the true standard-bearer of the Kennedy legacy. “This is a McCarthy-era moment,” he adds. “Whether it’s a left-wing mob or a right-wing mob, people need the courage to speak the truth.”
Defining RFK Jr. as “predatory,” Smith explains, “It’s when you exploit others for your own advancement in a way that’s expedient and harmful. He misleads people who are naïve and gullible with misinformation and disinformation for his own financial and political gain. That is predatory.”
The New York Post editorial board, which did not receive comment from RFK Jr., dismissed assurances that he would be restricted by policy constraints, writing, “The only straitjacket suitable for RFK Jr. is a real one.”
The Wall Street Journal went further, likening Kennedy to a high-end ambulance chaser, highlighting his financial ties to law firms that sue pharmaceutical companies. The editorial noted that RFK Jr. has profited from lawsuits against vaccine makers, including Merck’s Gardasil vaccine, which prevents cervical cancer. While Kennedy insists he only wants vaccines to be safe and well-studied, the Journal argued that his true goal is to expose the industry to litigation. “The risk is high that Mr. Kennedy will use his power and pulpit at HHS to enrich his trial-lawyer friends at the expense of public health and medical innovation,” the editorial warned.
Caroline Kennedy’s letter echoed these concerns, accusing RFK Jr. of profiting by discouraging access to a vaccine that “can prevent all forms of cervical cancer and has been safely administered to millions.”
Senators at the confirmation hearing will likely press Kennedy on his vaccine views and controversial AIDS theories—his 2021 book, The Real Anthony Fauci, questions the link between HIV and AIDS. But they may also scrutinize his finances. RFK Jr. has claimed he’s losing money on his anti-vaccine activism, telling Tucker Carlson, “I’m getting unpaid for this.” However, as Vanity Fair previously reported, his salary from the anti-vaccine nonprofit Children’s Health Defense skyrocketed after the COVID-19 pandemic, with donations doubling to $6.8 million in 2020 and Kennedy’s annual salary increasing from $40,200 in 2016 to $510,515 in 2022.
Earlier this year, Kennedy amended his financial disclosures to the Senate committee after significantly underreporting his income. He initially claimed he earned $731,470 in 2022 and 2023 but later revised the figure to $1.2 million. A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team told The Daily Beast the discrepancy was “an oversight.”
Stephen Smith warns that these “oversights” and conflicts of interest will only grow if RFK Jr. gains power over the nation’s healthcare system. “He is a dangerous man,” Smith says. “And if he gets a platform, he’ll become even more dangerous.”
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