Maria Shriver praised her cousin Caroline Kennedy’s “courage” in slamming their fellow relative Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a “predator.”
Caroline, the only living child of former President John F. Kennedy, published the scathing letter about RFK Jr. on Tuesday, ahead of his Senate hearing to become Donald Trump’s health secretary.
Shriver, the former first lady of California, is the daughter of Eunice Kennedy. Her mother’s siblings, John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, are the fathers of Caroline and RFK Jr. respectively.
She took to X on Wednesday to declare that in the battle of her cousins that she is firmly Team Caroline.
“Courage is when you do something hard, heartbreaking, and painful… and you do it anyway,” Shriver wrote. “Love you, Caroline. Always have, always will.”
![Caroline Kennedy and Maria Shriver at the wedding of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s sister, Courtney Kennedy.](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/DWJYWZSKKRF6XCF6MNK2R5Q52Y.jpg?auth=7c7bd65a1e9cffd80145930decd5592c3cc97d91b42dd55502e8f2eca3b58581&width=800&height=627)
Shriver’s post included a photo of Caroline alongside the book Profiles in Courage, which was written by President Kennedy and to which Caroline, a diplomat in the Obama and Biden administrations, has since supplied an introduction.
Comments on the post were switched off.
Caroline’s letter urged the Senate against confirming her cousin.
“I have known Bobby my whole life; we grew up together,” she wrote. “It’s no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets because he himself is a predator.”
“His basement, his garage, his dorm room were the centers of the action where drugs were available, and he enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in the blender to feed his hawks,” Kennedy added. “It was often a perverse scene of despair and violence.”
![Maria Shriver and her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/OVBPEIA55JCL3PIJG7P6LEO5Q4.jpg?auth=5f2251b1383cc097f5602b05f21277f67a0a20906a1dcb051feef2937568bc27&width=800&height=626)
She alleged that Kennedy, who before becoming an environmental lawyer experienced drug addiction, had led others in their family “down the path of drug addiction.”
His older brother, David, died from a drug overdose in 1984.
![Robert F. Kennedy Jr.](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/T2SPDWS6NRHSFEYTEMCCKSGDTE.jpg?auth=6ec152de4c97ee8ec4778b552d0f332a73a1a854adfe0f58d93e5f5c101acf5c&width=800&height=527)
On Wednesday, RFK Jr., whose father was JFK’s brother and served as his attorney general, faced tough questions from senators about his past statements on vaccinations, Lyme disease, and abortion.
Kennedy has been accused by critics of pushing health-related conspiracy theories. He is among Trump’s most controversial administration nominees.
Shriver, a journalist and author, is the ex-wife of former California Governor and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger.