(Mediaite) — At least three women are claiming to have had romantic relationships with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in just the last year, as he pursued a long-shot bid for the presidency, Mediaite has learned.
People close to Kennedy now fear the revelation of those alleged relationships could jeopardize his standing in Donald Trump’s orbit, particularly as the former president and 2024 Republican nominee fights to win over suburban women.
Two sources with direct knowledge of the three women’s accounts confirmed to Mediaite the existence of their claims. Mediaite also reviewed and obtained texts from a woman in which she detailed an alleged relationship with Kennedy this year.
The three women, who know Kennedy through Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group he chairs, have been sharing their alleged experiences in text messages with others in the wake of the scandal involving Kennedy and New York magazine correspondent Olivia Nuzzi.
A Kennedy spokesperson denied in a statement to Mediaite that he has had any romantic relationships outside of his marriage to actress Cheryl Hines: “This story is untrue. Mr Kennedy has had no romantic relationships with any woman other than his wife since their marriage.”
New York placed Nuzzi on leave after she disclosed a relationship with Kennedy that the magazine said violated its standards. Nuzzi said in a statement the relationship “turned personal” after she wrote a profile of the former presidential candidate late last year, but that it was never physical. A spokesperson for Kennedy said he only met Nuzzi once, for an interview that yielded what they described as a “hit piece.”
Kennedy ended his presidential campaign last month and endorsed Trump in the hopes of securing himself a role in a potential Trump administration. They reportedly discussed Kennedy serving as secretary of Health and Human Services, a powerful cabinet-level position.
One of the sources who spoke with Mediaite said the scandal swirling around Kennedy over the relationship with Nuzzi is seen internally as an issue the campaign wants to stay as far away from as possible, particularly given Trump’s own history of womanizing.
“Trump is concerned,” the person told Mediaite. He’s “concerned that there are more women, and that more affairs will come out. Right now, they are waiting to see if the news cycle will blow over, but it won’t, which has Trump reconsidering Bobby’s value.”
The source said Trump’s top advisers and donors see Kennedy as a problem for the campaign, particularly given the news of his alleged infidelity comes on the heels of unfounded rumors that the former president himself was having an affair with Laura Loomer, a conspiracy theorist who traveled with his campaign for several days last month. Loomer vehemently denied any affair with Trump and mocked those who suggested it.
One top Republican political operative who spoke with Mediaite on condition of anonymity said any alleged extramarital relationship could be an issue for Kennedy’s ambitions of serving in Trump’s cabinet.
“Affairs cannot get a security clearance at higher level government appointment jobs because they can be used as blackmail,” the operative said.
Greg Rinckey, a lawyer who specializes in national security clearances and previously served as a US Army intelligence officer and JAG, confirmed in an interview with Mediaite that affairs pose a serious threat to anyone seeking to serve in a presidential administration. They open applicants for security clearances up to potential blackmail or falling for honey pot traps. What’s more, if an applicant is not forthcoming about the number of affairs they’ve been involved in, they could run into issues during the polygraph examination of the clearance process.
