The journalist who played a pivotal role in breaking the story about then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. having an affair with journalist Olivia Nuzzi has lamented the fact that the infidelity did not hamper his political career—and branded RFK Jr. a “murderer” in the process.
Veteran reporter Kara Swisher tore into RFK Jr. in a new interview with The Bulwark’s Tim Miller, arguing that the Kennedy scion suffered no consequences following the very public fallout from the scandal. She believes the backlash ought to have prevented his rise to power and stopped his current implementation of anti-scientific policies as President Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary.
“He’s murdering people with the vaccine stuff, as far as I’m concerned,” Swisher told Miller.
Earlier this month, the 71-year-old nephew of the 35th president, John F. Kennedy, oversaw the reversal of a decades-long recommendation that all newborns receive a Hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Modeling suggests 480 people will die as a result each year.
It’s just the latest in a persistent push by the Health Secretary to curtail vaccine use, against medical advice.
Under RFK Jr.’s leadership, the FDA removed COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and he is reportedly is pushing to remove recommendations for influenza, chickenpox, and other standard jabs.
Nuzzi’s relationship with Kennedy—which began after the engaged journalist met the married presidential candidate for a profile story in 2023—cost her her job at New York Magazine but had no serious repercussions for Kennedy, who went on to become one of Trump’s most trusted advisers.
“He’s never paid for this,” Swisher said. “Because I guess everyone thinks he’s crazy.”
“I think he hasn’t paid one bit for his predatory—you know, if you look at old stories about him and women and the predatory—he’s a predator.”
Kennedy’s second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, alleged in her diaries that were leaked following her 2012 death by suicide that her husband engaged in at least 37 extramarital affairs.
In a 2024 Vanity Fair account, Eliza Cooney, a former babysitter for the Kennedy family, claimed that RFK Jr. sexually assaulted her when she was 23.
“I am not a church boy,” Kennedy said in defense of the allegations following an apology to Cooney.
“I had a very, very rambunctious youth. I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote I could run for king of the world.”
It’s not the first time that Kennedy has been labeled a “predator” or been accused of sacrificing lives. His own cousin, Caroline Kennedy, attempted to block his nomination as HHS Secretary in January by describing his disturbing behaviors in his private life.
“It’s no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets because he himself is a predator,” Kennedy wrote in a letter to senators one day before his confirmation hearing.
“Even before he fills this job, his constant denigration of our health care system and the conspiratorial half-truths he has told about vaccines, including in connection with Samoa’s deadly 2019 measles outbreak, have cost lives,” she continued.
Swisher argued that RFK Jr.’s history alone should have disqualified him from the high-ranking role in Trump’s Cabinet long before the affair with Nuzzi was made public.
“I feel like it’s crazy that people don’t care what his role is [in the affair],” Swisher added.
“Of all the people, he’s the one that should pay much more of a price, especially given his history with doing stuff like this.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Kennedy’s office for comment.
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