It has long been said that the Kennedy dynasty is America’s closest thing to a royal family. Now, the famed clan has produced a new crown prince who aims to succeed his illustrious ancestors by taking on the mission of healing a bitterly divided United States.
After living in the political shadows, 69-year-old Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has challenged President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination in hopes that the stardust and tragic history of his family name can get him all the way to the White House.
But unlike his uncle President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in November 1963, and his father Bobby, who was shot dead in 1968 while pursuing his own presidential nomination, RFK Jr. is considered the dark horse of the 2024 campaign, despite opinion polls identified him as the most popular candidate – in a poll he beat both Joe Biden and Donald Trump with a net positive rating of 19 points.
Notably, the former environmental advocate has built a bipartisan appeal that could turn increasingly partisan American partisan politics on its head.
His advocacy of pro-Republican causes like vaccine hesitancy and opposition to US support for the war in Ukraine has garnered support from conservative-minded Americans. But his views have also alienated sections of the Democratic base, prompting fears that a Kennedy candidacy would mortally harm Biden and result in Trump’s triumphant return to the White House.
Daphne Barker’s interview with Robert Kennedy Junior (right) will be aired on Sunday 13 August at 9.30am on the Camilla Tominey show on GB News
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 69, (pictured) has challenged President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination in hopes that stardust and the tragic history of his family name can land him in the White House
However things ultimately play out, it now seems certain that – one way or another – he will play a significant role.
While his father and uncle vied with Hollywood’s “Rat Pack” for Marilyn Monroe’s affections, RFK Jr. spawned stardust himself. Last week, actor Woody Harrelson was photographed in a Kennedy 2024 baseball cap alongside RFK’s wife, Curb Your Enthusiasm actress Cheryl Hines.
British blues legend Eric Clapton is said to be preparing to perform at a Kennedy rally and filmmaker Oliver Stone has been spotted at RFK events.
But for most Americans, RFK will always be associated with the murders of his uncle and father – two senseless murders that ended the 1960s and for many people the end of their dream of a new America.
RFK Jr. was just nine years old when his uncle Jack was shot dead on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. In an exclusive interview, he recalls how his mother, Ethel, picked him up from school just as the Stars and Stripes stood on the flagpole outside, being belittled out of respect.
He said: “As we were leaving, we saw a man in front of the school lowering the flag to half-mast.”
“I asked my mother why that was, why he was doing that.” And she said that a bad man shot my uncle, Uncle Jack.’
John Kennedy listens as his nephew Bobby Kennedy Jr (RFK Junior) explains how the plane flies from Los Angeles to Boston as they return home from the Democratic National Convention
The assassination of President Kennedy is still the subject of a tangle of conspiracy theories. Today, RFK Jr. reveals that his father — JFK’s brother Robert F. Kennedy — initially suspected an inside job.
Kennedy Jr., 69, said, “My father called the CIA chief for the first time that day and asked him, ‘Did your people do this?'” That was his first thought.’
When Robert and his mother, Ethel, returned to their Virginia mansion, he found his father in the garden with then-CIA Director John McCone.
The Kennedy name still has the old magic
When it comes to star power, the Kennedy name still holds the old magic.
JFK famously ran with the Rat Pack and was serenaded by none other than Marilyn Monroe for his birthday.
Now Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has his own Hollywood appeal.
His wife, actress Cheryl Hines, is a celebrity in her own right — and his environmentalist credentials align with many in the entertainment industry.
So I wasn’t terribly surprised when I bumped into Oscar-winning screenwriter Oliver Stone at a recent RFK Jr. event.
Now I can reveal that Eric Clapton will be making a special appearance at a campaign event next month
But what connects the candidate with one of the greatest guitarists in the world?
I believe it is their experiences of grief that brought them together.
I interviewed both Eric Clapton and Lory Del Santo, the mother of the musician’s child, Conor, who tragically died in 1991 when he fell from the 53rd floor of a New York City skyscraper.
Lory told me, ‘Conor had such a short life.’ I want the world to remember him.’
Eric made sure that would be the case when he wrote Tears In Heaven for his four-year-old son.
Meanwhile, the Kennedy name has become synonymous with tragedy — there have been more than 13 cases in which family members have been kidnapped too early.
As Bobby described the moment his father died, I could see the pain on his face.
Grief is the ultimate balance – money, connections and fame mean nothing when you lose someone you love.
Both men know that all too well.
After interrogating the senior intelligence chief, Robert Sr. ran up to the family and gave them an emotional hug.
Kennedy Jr. recalls, “There was a cedar tree at the base of our yard and we all stood under it together and hugged my father because we saw how upset he was that it was being destroyed.”
“It took him many, many months to recover. After that, he walked around like a ghost for several months.”
Tragedy struck again when her father, Robert F. Kennedy, was shot dead in June 1968 while he was running for the presidency himself.
The New York Senator was shot dead by Sirhan Sirhan in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles – Kennedy Jr., then only 14, rushed to his side.
He recalls being woken up at 5 a.m. by priests at his private boarding school in Washington before being put on Air Force Two — the Vice President’s plane — and flown to California.
Grateful for those final moments at Good Samaritan Hospital, he reveals for the first time, “I was with my father when he died.”
After Senator Kennedy, a former US Attorney General and civil rights activist, succumbed to his injuries, the Kennedy family flew him to New York for a vigil.
His son acted as one of the pallbearers at a service at St Patrick’s Church the following day.
Kennedy Jr. said, “I remember as we were carrying his coffin down the steps of St. Patrick’s and struggling with it, a black woman collapsed on the steps … she waved a handkerchief at the coffin and said to him, ‘Well, you’.” I did your best. You did your best.’
“It was a moment that just stabbed me in the chest.”
His body was then transported by train from New York to Washington – millions of Americans lined the tracks to pay their respects.
Kennedy Jr. said, “People were holding American flags.” People were holding up their kids, their babies, to see the train. And people held signs that said, “Goodbye Bobby” or “Pray for us Bobby.”
Bobby Kennedy was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, near his brother John’s final resting place.
But not all Americans shared the mass shock and disgust at the Kennedy assassination. Robert Jr. revealed his mother and ten siblings had faced threats and horrific hate mail for years.
He says: “We received hate mail, we received death threats, even the children in the house.” We received hundreds of letters from people every day at the time.
“And I remember showing my brothers David and Michael a letter about the killing of Ethel and her ten little pigs.”
It was a difficult time for RFK Jr., who began using heroin to “fill an empty space inside me.”
RFK Jr attends his father Robert F. Kennedy’s funeral service on June 8, 1968. RFK Jr has revealed how he started using heroin to fill “an empty space inside me” after his father’s death
But he insists, “I wouldn’t blame these tragedies on drugs.” It may or may not have contributed.
“I feel like I was born an addict… like I’m an empty spiritual hole.”
When he first spoke openly about his addiction to the Class A drug, he admitted: “I shot, I did heroin intravenously, it’s been my drug of choice since I was 15. And I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t.” stop.
“The most demoralizing feature of addiction for me was the inability to honor contracts with myself.” I tell myself at 9 a.m., “Okay, I’ll never do that again.”
“I would say it honestly, sincerely and sincerely – and at four o’clock in the afternoon I would do it.”
“I couldn’t understand why this was happening… it’s fraudulent, confusing, powerful.”
“I knew I didn’t want to do drugs, and I didn’t understand why I kept doing it.” I had an iron will in every other part of my life.
“I gave up candy for Lent when I was thirteen and never ate candy again until I went to college. I felt like I could do anything with my willpower, and I couldn’t believe it wouldn’t work against drugs.”
Pallbearers (including Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) carry Senator Robert Kennedy’s coffin to the gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia on June 9, 1968
Addiction gripped Robert for 14 years before finally getting clean in September 1983, shortly after he was publicly arrested for heroin possession.
After the news broke in the newspapers, Kennedy Jr. felt able to start a 12-step program with Narcotics Anonymous where recovering addicts meet regularly to review their progress.
Kennedy Jr. explains, “It would have seemed crazy to me to walk into a group of strangers and talk about anything private.” Because the consequences of doing that in my position just seemed disastrous.
“But I was arrested in September 1983 and got national and international attention.” Since privacy and anonymity were no longer an issue by that point, I was able to engage in 12-step programs. And it had an immediate effect on me.”
“A few months later I experienced a spiritual awakening and the compulsion I had just went away.”
“It was almost like I’d never had it before.” To me, it was as much a miracle as learning to walk on water, because it’s a miracle.”
And he believes his experience puts him in a strong position to understand the problems America faces, not the least of which is the deadly opioid crisis, which has become the leading killer of young Americans.
He said, “It’s not just an addiction, our country needs healing.” The level of mental illness in our country, the level of addiction to psychiatric drugs or addiction to psychiatric drugs.
President JFK visits his young nephew, RFK Junior
“We have a major public health and mental health problem in our country and no one is addressing it.”
Kennedy Jr.’s run for president in 2024 is at odds with his family — five of his relatives have close ties to Biden’s presidency.
He has been criticized by his own siblings for his skepticism about vaccines and US military support for Ukraine.
Daphne Barack
Daphne Barak is an interviewer and documentary filmmaker whose subjects have included Nelson Mandela, Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton, Johnny Depp, and Michael Jackson, among others.
Daphne’s best-selling book, Saving Amy, based on months of filming with Amy Winehouse and her family, is being adapted into an eight-part TV series by Halcyon Studios
He said, “I love my family.” I love my brothers and sisters. You disagree with me about the war. You disagree with me on the censorship issue.
“They disagree with me on foreign policy and the neoconservatives who now run the White House, and they agree, but I don’t.”
“Joe Biden has been a friend and ally of my family for more than 40 years, and he has a bust of my father behind him in the White House.” There is great affection for him in my family.
“I understand that people are concerned because I’m going up against him as someone who has such a strong bond with our family and with our family.”
“But I see that our country is going in a very bad direction, and I see that the Democratic Party is going in a bad direction on a lot of issues.”
Knowing all too well the perils of life in the limelight, Kennedy Jr. had several conversations with his wife, Curb Your Enthusiasm actress Cheryl Hines, 57, before stepping up.
The father-of-six said, “I think everyone in my family is aware of the risk.” I think life is full of risks.
“I think once Cheryl was convinced that there was a way to win – because I have a passion for solving some of these problems for our country and I’m in a unique position to do that – she did given it to me.’ the green light.’
Sixty years ago, the Kennedy name was synonymous with the politics of hope, the glamor of her “Camelot” court, and selfless service to the American nation. RFK Jr hopes he can relive that dream.
Daphne’s interview with Robert Kennedy Junior will air Sunday 13 August at 9.30am on the Camilla Tominey show on GB News. Also available on gbnews.com
Daphne’s latest book, Struggling for One America, written with Erbil Gunasti, is published by Skyhorse Publishing and can be purchased here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Struggling-for-One-America/Daphne-Barak/ 978151076808
Read their pop culture info here: https://fighting4oneamerica.com and here: https://substack.com/@erbilwrites