WATCH: Caroline Kennedy Slams Cousin RFK Jr. as “Dangerous” and a “Predator” in Video to Senate

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

We’re going to stick with this issue for one more minute right now — actually, six. Senate confirmation hearings open today for President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., known for spreading public health conspiracy theories and disinformation, has claimed HIV may not cause AIDS, that COVID-19 was designed to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, that chemicals in the U.S. water supply are leading more children to be gay and transgender.

Ahead of RFK Jr.’s appearance before the Senate Finance Committee, his cousin, Caroline Kennedy, the former U.S. ambassador to Japan and Australia, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, called on senators to reject RFK Jr.’s confirmation. She read her entire letter to the senators aloud in a video she shared on social media. This is it.

CAROLINE KENNEDY: Dear senators,

Throughout the past year, people have asked for my thoughts about my cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his presidential campaign. I did not comment, not only because I was serving in a government position as United States ambassador to Australia, but because I have never wanted to speak publicly about my family members and their challenges. We are a close generation of 28 cousins who have been through a lot together. We know how hard it’s been, and we are always there for each other. But now that Bobby has been nominated by President Trump to be secretary of health and human services, a position that would put him in charge of the health of the American people, I feel an obligation to speak out.

Overseeing the FDA, the NIH, the CDC and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, agencies that are charged with protecting the most vulnerable among us, is an enormous responsibility and one that Bobby is unqualified to fill. He lacks any relevant government, financial, management or medical experience. His views on vaccines are dangerous and willfully misinformed.

These facts alone should be disqualifying, but he has personal qualities related to this job, which for me pose even greater concern. I’ve known Bobby my whole life. We grew up together. It’s no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets, because Bobby himself is a predator. He’s always been charismatic, able to attract others through the strength of his personality, his willingness to take risks and break the rules. I watched his younger brothers and cousins follow him down the path of drug addiction. His basement, his garage, his dorm room were always the center of the action, where drugs were available and he enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in a blender to feed to his hawks. It was often a perverse scene of despair and violence.

That was a long time ago, and people can change. Through his own strength and the many second chances he was given by people who felt sorry for the boy who lost his father, Bobby was able to pull himself out of illness and disease. I admire the discipline that took and the continuing commitment it requires. 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.

Today, while he may encourage a younger generation to attend AA meetings, Bobby is addicted to attention and power. Bobby preys on the desperation of parents of sick children, vaccinating his own kids while building a following hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating theirs. Even before he fills this job, his constant denigration of our healthcare system and the conspiratorial half-truths he’s told about vaccines, including in connection with Samoa’s deadly 2019 outbreak of measles, have cost lives.

And now we know that Bobby’s crusade against vaccination has benefited him in other ways, too. His ethics report makes clear that he will keep his financial stake in a lawsuit against an HPV vaccine. In other words, Bobby is willing to profit and enrich himself by denying access to a vaccine that can prevent almost all forms of cervical cancer and has already been safely administered to millions of boys and girls. During my time in Australia, I worked on the Quad Cancer Initiative, and I learned that cervical cancer is among the top three forms of cancer among women in a majority of countries. Tragically, every year, more than 200,000 children lose their mothers. They are orphaned due to a lack of vaccines and screening. Those are the real-world consequences of Bobby’s irresponsible beliefs.

We are a close family. None of that is easy to say. It also wasn’t easy to remain silent last year when Bobby expropriated my father’s image and distorted President Kennedy’s legacy to advance his own failed presidential campaign and then grovel to Donald Trump for a job. Bobby continues to grandstand off my father’s assassination and that of his own father. It’s incomprehensible to me that someone who is willing to exploit their own painful family tragedies for publicity would be put in charge of America’s life and death situations. Unlike Bobby, I try not to speak for my father, but I am certain that he and my Uncle Bobby, who gave their lives in public service to our country, and my Uncle Teddy, who devoted his long Senate career to the cause of improving healthcare, would be disgusted.

The American healthcare system, for all its flaws, is the envy of the world. Its doctors and nurses, researchers, scientists and caregivers are the most dedicated people I know. Every day they give their lives to heal and save others. They deserve a knowledgeable leader who is committed to evidence and excellence. They deserve a secretary committed to advancing cutting-edge medicine to save lives, not to rejecting the advances we have already made. They deserve a stable, moral and ethical person at the helm of this crucial agency. They deserve better than Bobby Kennedy, and so do the rest of us. I urge the Senate to reject his nomination.

Sincerely, Caroline Kennedy.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s cousin Caroline Kennedy, former U.S. ambassador to Japan and Australia, daughter of President John F. Kennedy. She sent that video and an accompanying letter to the Senate Finance Committee senators. RFK‘s confirmation to be secretary of health and human services begins today in the Senate.

Next up, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is set to join other Latin American and Caribbean heads of state for an emergency meeting to respond to Trump’s mass deportations. We’ll look at her first 100 days. Back in 20 seconds.