Lawrence O’Donnell told his MSNBC viewers Monday night that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a “disgrace” to his family—just as the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was to his.
It was the Kennedy scion’s endorsement of Donald Trump on Friday that elicited the strong reaction from O’Donnell, who dedicated more than 10 minutes of his show to skewering the failed presidential candidate.
“The Jeffrey Dahmer of the animal kingdom has horrified his family almost as much as Jeffrey Dahmer horrified his by endorsing the most horrifying Republican presidential nominee in history,” he said.
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O’Donnell didn’t stop there, however. He went on to detail how he felt Kennedy had soured the “beatific glow around the name Robert Kennedy” that had stood since the elder Kennedy was assassinated in 1968—a name he said is now “fully disgraced.”
Some of Kennedy’s own loved ones would likely agree with O’Donnell. In a statement of their own, five of Kennedy’s siblings wrote Friday that their brother’s backing of Trump was a “betrayal.” Jack Schlossberg, the 31-year-old grandson of John F. Kennedy, also mocked his cousin’s decision.
“Never been less surprised in my life,” Schlossberg said. “Been saying it for over a year—RFK Jr. is for sale, works for Trump.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared on stage with Donald Trump just hours after endorsing him.
Go Nakamura/ReutersKennedy endorsed Trump on Friday afternoon in Phoenix, delivering a dizzying, long-winded speech that took over 20 minutes before Trump’s name was ever mentioned. He seemed to bow out of the presidential race begrudgingly, urging supporters in deep-blue states to still vote for him in November.
That speech was also rife with falsehoods, which O’Donnell called out Monday. The MSNBC host appeared to be particularly peeved that Kennedy had claimed the media was icing him out whenever Kennedy had allegedly turned down an open invitation on his show.
“On July 12, 2023, I issued a public invitation to Robert Kennedy Jr. to appear on this program at the time of his choosing, and he never chose to do that,” O’Donnell said. “If he does show up, I’ll make it easy, easy on him by giving him the first question ahead of time.”
Hours after making his endorsement of Trump official, Kennedy took to a stage in Arizona to stump alongside the Republican nominee after sharing a handshake and hug.
Kennedy has since been named to Trump’s tentative transition team—something that surely wasn’t in the cards had he not dropped out and endorsed when he did.
