Unbiased US presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr on Tuesday has described a Self-importance Honest story as “lots of rubbish,” responding to a number of allegations together with that he sexually assaulted a former household babysitter.
Vanity Fair reported that within the late Nineteen Nineties, Mr Kennedy groped Eliza Cooney, a latest school graduate who had been employed as a part-time babysitter for his kids and to help him along with his environmental legislation work. She was 23 years previous on the time.
When requested about particularly about this allegation and the others in query on the Breaking Points podcast, Mr Kennedy mentioned, “I’m not a church boy”.
“I had a really, very rambunctious youth,” he mentioned. “I mentioned in my announcement speech that I’ve so many skeletons in my closet that if they might all vote, I may run for king of the world.”
When pressed by podcast host Saagar Enjeti additional on the sexual assault declare, Mr Kennedy mentioned he had no remark.
The journal additionally reported he had a number of extramarital affairs and vigorously defended a cousin, Michael Skakel, who was convicted of murdering a 15-year-old woman in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Mr Kennedy’s marketing campaign pointed reporters to a submit on X the place he accused the journal of being in league with Democratic Celebration management.
Whereas discussing the article on the podcast, Mr Kennedy centered on a separate allegation within the story – that he posed with a barbecued canine whereas on a visit to Korea, and later joked about it in a message to a pal.
Mr Kennedy mentioned the photograph was taken not in Korea however within the Patagonia area in South America, and that the animal pictured was a goat.
Self-importance Honest reporter Joe Hagen, who beforehand wrote a profile of Mr Kennedy for the journal, mentioned the photograph was proof of Mr Kennedy “concurrently mocking Korean tradition, reveling in animal cruelty, and needlessly risking his fame and that of his household.”
The story additionally outlined Mr Kennedy’s alleged affairs and included particulars of drug habit in his youth, which the candidate has been open about on the path.
On the identical podcast, Mr Kennedy – the son of Robert F Kennedy and nephew of President John F Kennedy – mentioned that though he was dedicated to operating for president as an unbiased, “the most effective path for me to the White Home is thru the Democratic Celebration.”
“I believe that will in all probability be your best option for everyone and it’s actually one thing I might take into account,” if President Biden had been to step apart, he mentioned.
The BBC has contacted Self-importance Honest for remark.
