JFK's grandson calls RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy an 'embarrassment' and 'vanity project'

WASHINGTON — The grandson of President John F. Kennedy, Jack Schlossberg, ridiculed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday for not endorsing Joe Biden's re-election bid and running for president himself as he continues to spread conspiracy theories.

In a video posted to his Instagram, Schlossberg, Caroline Kennedy's son, said his grandfather's legacy was important and that Biden was becoming "the greatest progressive president we've ever had."

"Under Biden, we've added 13 million jobs, unemployment is at its lowest in 60 years. Biden passed the largest investment in infrastructure since the New Deal and the largest investment in green energy ever. He's appointed more federal judges than any president since my grandfather. He ended our longest war. He ended the Covid pandemic, and he ended Donald Trump. These are the issues that matter. And if my cousin, Bobby Kennedy Jr., cared about any of them, he would support Joe Biden too," Schlossberg said.

"Instead, he's trading in on Camelot, celebrity conspiracy theories and conflict for personal gain and fame," he said about his first cousin, once removed. "I've listened to him. I know him. I have no idea why anyone thinks he should be president. What I do know is his candidacy is an embarrassment. Let's not be distracted again by somebody's vanity project. I'm excited to vote for Joe Biden in my state's primary, and again in the general election. And I hope you will too."

Schlossberg's comments come a day after RFK Jr. testified before the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. During the hearing, Kennedy tried to defend himself from wide condemnation over comments he recently made suggesting Covid may be an “ethnically targeted” bioweapon possibly designed to spare “Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”

Kennedy set aside his prepared opening remarks, saying, "I have never uttered a phrase that was either racist or antisemitic."

Other members of the Kennedy family have also lashed out against RFK Jr. for his remarks and behavior.

Earlier this week, Kerry Kennedy, one of his sisters, lambasted her brother in a brief statement Monday after a report that quoted him as saying that Covid-19 was “targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese."

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An overwhelming proportion of American Jews are Ashkenazi Jews, who are descended from Jews who lived in Central and Eastern Europe.

NBC News has not verified the video. In a statement on Twitter later in the day, Kennedy defended his remarks, saying they were not antisemitic.

Former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., also weighed in Monday, tweeting that he condemns his uncle’s remarks.

CORRECTION (July 22, 2023: 11:19 a.m. ET): An earlier version of this story misidentified the relationship between RFK Jr. and Jack Schlossberg. They are first cousins, once removed, not second cousins.