RFK Jr. on Family Ties After Tragic Loss: A Kennedy Divide Widened by Politics and Personal Grief
Palm Desert, Calif. — The glittering Starry Starry Night Gala, a fundraiser for breast cancer research, presented a stark contrast to the somber family reality facing one of its honorees. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the controversial U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, was asked about a loss that has reverberated through the Kennedy family: the December passing of his cousin Caroline Kennedy's daughter, Tatiana Schlossberg, at age 35 from acute myeloid leukemia.
"Not recently," was RFK Jr.'s brief, subdued response when questioned by PEOPLE about whether he had been in touch with Caroline in the weeks since the tragedy. The three-word reply speaks volumes about the fractured state of a family once defined by its unified public front.
The death of Tatiana Schlossberg—an environmental journalist, mother of two, and granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy—has cast a renewed light on the profound divisions separating RFK Jr. from much of his famed family. These schisms, rooted in political ideology and public health policy, were painfully articulated by Tatiana herself before her death.
In a poignant November essay in The New Yorker announcing her diagnosis, Tatiana did not shy away from naming her cousin. She labeled RFK Jr., who has closely aligned himself with former President Donald Trump, an "embarrassment" and criticized his stance on vaccines and his leadership of HHS—a system she was navigating during her own cancer treatment.
Her mother, Caroline Kennedy, the former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, had already issued a searing public denunciation. Ahead of RFK Jr.'s confirmation hearings last year, she called him a "predator" addicted to power and "unqualified" to shape national health policy—a remarkable breach of family decorum for the historically reserved diplomat.
RFK Jr., attending the California gala with wife Cheryl Hines where the couple received an award, offered a generic well-wish: "Everybody's praying for them." His absence from Tatiana's January 5 funeral at New York City's Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola was noted. That same day, he was publicly rolling out a major shift in childhood vaccine mandates, a policy move likely to further alienate relatives who viewed his public health positions as a betrayal of the family legacy.
The mourning at the funeral was intimate, attended by immediate family including Tatiana's parents, siblings Rose and Jack Schlossberg, her husband George Moran, and her two young children. The gathering stood in silent testimony to a life cut short, and to a family rift that grief has yet to mend.
Voices & Perspectives
"This is a family tragedy compounded by a public feud. The Kennedys have always been political, but the personal cost here is immense. Tatiana's courage in speaking out from her hospital bed adds a layer of profound moral weight to the disagreement." — David Chen, Political Historian and author of The Kennedy Legacy in Modern America.
"It's heartbreaking. Regardless of politics, a young mother is gone. One can only hope that in this moment of loss, the family can find some private space for healing away from the cameras and the policy debates." — Maria Rodriguez, Family Grief Counselor.
"RFK Jr.'s 'not recently' says it all. While the family mourned, he was dismantling public health protections. His actions and his family's condemnation are inextricably linked. This isn't just a family dispute; it's a national one playing out in the most painful, personal arena imaginable." — Ben Carter, Political Commentator for The Atlantic Review.
"The hypocrisy is staggering. He heads the agency tasked with fighting diseases like cancer, yet his own cousin felt compelled to call him out for undermining that very system as she was fighting for her life. His condolences ring hollow." — Anya Sharma, Public Health Advocate (Reacting sharply to the news).
Read the original report on PEOPLE.