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RFK Jr. says he's 'not a church boy' in response to alarming sexual assault allegations
When asked about the allegations on a podcast, he said he has "skeletons in my closet."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. just admitted he's "not a church boy" in response to sexual assault allegations brought forward by a former babysitter in a scathing new Vanity Fair exposé.
Today, Vanity Fair published an exclusive story detailing Kennedy's life, his family's concern about him running for president, and a slew of allegations made by a former babysitter who was 23 when the incidents occurred.
Eliza Cooney moved in with RFK Jr. and his then-wife Mary Richardson in 1998 after she was hired as a babysitter for the summer. Cooney told Vanity Fair that she had kept a diary where she detailed an incident in the kitchen at night when he touched her leg under the table during a family meeting.
At one point, Cooney found Kennedy standing in her bedroom with his shirt off, and he asked her to rub lotion on his back. In another incident, he came up behind her and groped her. "My back was to the door of the pantry, and he came up behind me," Cooney told Vanity Fair. "I was frozen. Shocked."
Related: Taraji P. Henson called out Republicans' project 2025
Looks like Donald Trump might not be alone in allegedly being abusive toward women. The fact that there are now two presidential candidates facing sexual assault allegations is troublesome.
The exposé was only published this morning, but Kennedy has already responded to the allegations. You would expect a politician to deny the report, but instead, he made a baffling admission — which probably should have been expected, considering it's coming from the same person who peddles ridiculous conspiracy theories and recently blamed his mental fogginess on a dead worm in his brain.
Today, Kennedy was asked directly about Cooney's allegations by Sagaar Enjeti on the political podcast Breaking Point, and his response has left many scratching their heads because he not only did not deny the allegations but also claimed he is "not a church boy" and that he had a "rambunctious" youth.
"I said in my announcement speech that I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world," he said. "So, you know, Vanity Fair is recycling 30-year-old stories. And, I'm not, you know, going to comment on the details of any of them, but it's, you know, I am who I am."
Enjeti then gave Kennedy one last opportunity to confirm or deny the allegations, but instead, he responded, "I'm not going to comment on it."
PRIDE has not independently verified Vanity Fair's reporting.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
