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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Former President John F. Kennedy's daughter Caroline Kennedy had strong words for the U.S. Senate as it weighs whether or not to confirm her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as the nation's next health and human services secretary.
"I've known Bobby my whole life, we grew up together," Caroline Kennedy said in a video shared by her son Jack Schlossberg. "It's no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets because Bobby himself is a predator."
In the video, Kennedy, a former U.S. Ambassador, reads from a letter she wrote to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to testify before that committee on Thursday, Jan. 30, a day after he testifies before the Senate Committee on Finance.
In her letter, Caroline Kennedy accuses her cousin of animal cruelty and taking advantage of members of his own family.
"I watched his younger brothers and cousins follow him down the path of drug addiction," she read. "His basement, his garage, and 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."
As health and human services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be tasked with overseeing agencies like the FDA and the CDC, something Caroline Kennedy said he would be unqualified to do.
"Today while he may encourage a younger generation to attend AA meetings, Bobby is addicted to attention and power," she said. "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."
She also accused Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of "grandstanding" off of his father's legacy and that of Former President Kennedy during his failed presidential campaign.
"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," Caroline Kennedy said.
WBZ's Kyle Bray (@KyleBrayWBZ) reports.