Caroline Kennedy wrote a letter to key senators Tuesday, calling her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a “predator” who is addicted to the attention he gets from airing dangerous views on vaccinations.
She called on lawmakers, who will be questioning Kennedy at his confirmation hearings to become the nation’s health secretary Wednesday and Thursday, to reject his nomination. She cited his lack of experience, misinformed views on vaccines and personal attributes. In the letter, she described how he led other family members “down the path of drug addiction.”
“His basement, his garage, and 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,” Kennedy wrote. “It was often a perverse scene of despair and violence.”
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Her letter was first reported in The Washington Post.
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She gave him credit for overcoming his drug addiction, which he has discussed extensively, but she said that the collateral damage was extensive.
“But 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,” Caroline Kennedy wrote.
She criticised his advocacy against vaccines, describing it as part of an addiction to attention and power.
“Bobby preys on the desperation of parents of sick children — vaccinating his own children while building a following by hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating theirs,” she wrote. - This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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