Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday described an article in Vanity Fair magazine as “garbage,” responding to a number of allegations including that he sexually assaulted a former family babysitter.
Vanity Fair reported that in the late 1990s, Mr. Kennedy groped Eliza Cooney, a recent college graduate who was hired as a part-time babysitter for his children and to assist him in his environmental law work. She was 23 at the time.
When asked specifically about this allegation and others being questioned above Breakthrough Podcast“I was not a church boy,” said Mr. Kennedy.
“I had a very, very tumultuous youth,” he said. “I said in my declaration speech that I had so many secrets in my closet that if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world.”
When asked further about the sexual assault allegation by podcast host Saagar Enjeti, Mr Kennedy said he had no comment.
The magazine also reported that he had had multiple extramarital affairs and had vigorously defended a cousin, Michael Skakel, who was convicted of killing a 15-year-old girl in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Mr Kennedy’s campaign pointed reporters to an X article in which he accused the magazine of colluding with Democratic Party leaders.
When discussing the article on the podcast, Mr. Kennedy focused on a separate allegation in the story — that he posed with a grilled dog during a trip to South Korea, and then joked about it in a text message to a friend.
Mr. Kennedy said the photo was not taken in Korea but in the Patagonia region of South America, and the animal in the photo is a goat.
Vanity Fair reporter Joe Hagen, who previously profiled Mr Kennedy for the magazine, said the photo was evidence that Mr Kennedy “both mocked Korean culture, enjoyed animal cruelty and needlessly risked his reputation and that of his family”.
The article also outlined Mr Kennedy’s alleged relationships and included details about his drug addiction as a young man, which the candidate had made public during his campaign.
On the same podcast, Mr Kennedy – son of Robert F Kennedy and grandson of President John F Kennedy – said that while he had pledged to run for president as an independent candidate, “the best path for me to the White House is through the Democratic Party”.
“I think that’s probably the best option for everyone and certainly something I would consider if President Biden were to step down,” he said.
The BBC has contacted Vanity Fair for comment.
