Kerry Kennedy Sends Message to Viewers That Her Brother RFK Jr. Won’t
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s sister, Kerry, contested her brother’s skepticism on vaccines and begged viewers to go “get every vaccine that’s out there” in an interview with CNN Monday.
Speaking on Erin Burnett’s OutFront, Kerry addressed her brother’s sweeping first press conference as health secretary last week where he described autism as an “epidemic” that he believes is caused by an “environmental toxin” he hopes to investigate.
While a cause for autism is not fully understood, research has long suggested that genetics play a pivotal role.
“I love my brother, and I not only love him because all of us have to love our siblings, but I also like him,” Kerry said. “But I do disagree with almost everything he says from a public policy perspective.”
Prior to becoming health secretary, RFK Jr. founded and was the former chair of anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense. Though he seemed to step away from his formerly publicized stance by endorsing getting the measles vaccine amid a growing outbreak in West Texas, he still insisted in a March interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that “people ought to be able to make that choice for themselves” when it comes to vaccines.
His sister, however, turned to speak directly to the camera on Monday: “Everybody, go get the measles vaccine right now. If you haven’t gotten it, go get it. Get the COVID vaccine. Get every vaccine that’s out there. Go and get it, because that’s the way you protect yourself. That’s the way you protect your children. And that’s the way, the only way, our country and the world will be protected from diseases.”
Kerry, a human rights activist and lawyer, has distanced herself from her brother and his views for some time. In August 2024, she publicly endorsed Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s campaign, and described her brother’s decision to back Trump as a “betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear.” She later again warned against his involvement with the Trump administration in a November 2024 interview with CNN.
Though the pair have drifted apart, Kerry was open to the idea of their Catholic faith bringing them back together following Pope Francis’ death.
“I believe in faith, and I pray every day for union. And I hope that the next pope will be somebody who can bring Catholics together,” Kerry said during her Monday interview. “You know, essentially this is all about love and finding ways of loving each other. And that love starts with recognition of the dignity of every human being.”
“Frankly, that’s why I have spent my life promoting the universal declaration of human rights, because that document is the physical, legal manifestation of what love looks like in our country and around the globe,” she added.