Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nephew is calling for his resignation after a tense Senate Finance Committee hearing.
On Friday, Sept. 5, Joe Kennedy III shared a post on X criticizing the 71-year-old, who is currently serving as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The 44-year-old former congressman accused his uncle of being “a threat to the health and wellbeing of every American.” He said Kennedy Jr.’s duty is “protecting the public health of our country and its people.”
“At yesterday’s hearing, he chose to do the opposite: to dismiss science, mislead the public, sideline experts and sow confusion,” Kennedy III wrote in his statement.
His comments came a day after Kennedy Jr. attacked the CDC and defended his decision to disband the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which gives guidance on vaccine use, PBS reported.
“None of us will be spared the pain he is inflicting. It doesn’t matter how rich or powerful you are or what state you live in — the heartbreak of watching a loved one fall ill knows no borders,” Kennedy III warned.
He added, “The challenges before us — from disease outbreaks to mental health crises — demand moral clarity, scientific expertise, and leadership rooted in fact.” He ended his post with a call to action: “Those values are not present in the Secretary’s office. He must resign.”
Kennedy III is not the only family member who has spoken out against RFK Jr.
In August, his cousin Caroline Kennedy told New York magazine that their family today is very different from the dynasty the U.S. once saw. “Just to state the obvious though it seems often underweighted these days — there are now more than 100 adults in our family so it’s pretty different than in the past,” she said.
She also criticized him for “grandstanding” off the tragic Kennedy assassinations of the 1960s and using the family name for attention.
His mother, the late Ethel Kennedy, also reportedly weighed in. According to New York magazine, when RFK Jr. launched his 2023 presidential run, one of her first calls was to then-President Joe Biden, apologizing for her son’s decision.
In a separate statement that year, his sister Kerry Kennedy said: “I love my brother Bobby, but I do not share or endorse his opinions on many issues, including the COVID pandemic, vaccinations, and the role of social media platforms in policing false information.”
