Trump guts Kennedy Center while JFK's disgraceful nephew stays silent | Opinion
RFK Jr. had two choices: Denounce Trump's takeover of the nation's living memorial to the assassinated President Kennedy or step down from his new role at HHS. Shamefully, he's done neither.
Two weeks ago, President Donald Trump kicked off his purge of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by announcing his plan to gut the board and install himself as chairman. His rationale: “We don’t need woke at the Kennedy Center. Some of the shows were terrible. They were a disgrace that they were even put on.”
Then he followed through on his threat, firing the current president, sacking the Biden appointees to the board and putting himself in charge.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the newly confirmed secretary of the Health and Human Services in the Trump administration, said nothing about the takeover of one of this nation’s most prestigious cultural institutions − one named in honor of his late uncle more than 60 years ago.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. betrayed his own family legacy
In his own campaign for the 2024 presidency as a Democrat, RFK Jr. had been quick on the draw to link himself to JFK in advertisements and speeches, promoting himself as the heir apparent of Camelot.
Family ties, indeed.
No matter whether you’re thumbs up or down on the younger Kennedy’s views on vaccines, ultraprocessed foods and Obamacare, it’s hard to imagine a greater betrayal of his uncle’s legacy than remaining silent as Trump, his boss, tears apart our national cultural center.
JFK himself kicked off a $30 million fundraising campaign in late 1962, appointing both his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Mamie Eisenhower, wife to former Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, as honorary co-chairwomen.
From the outset, the Kennedy Center had bipartisan backing, with its board membership consisting of both Republican and Democratic appointees. Until Trump’s recent intervention.
RFK Jr. should be ashamed of himself
RFK Jr. had two choices: Denounce Trump’s takeover of the nation’s living memorial to the assassinated President Kennedy or step down from his new role at HHS.
Shamefully, he’s done neither. (I reached out to Kennedy twice this week through his press office, with no comment back before deadline.)
If Kennedy would like a refresher lesson in the importance of family ties, he only needs to have looked to his Aunt Jackie. She famously resigned her post as a book editor at the Viking Press in 1977 because of its publication of a novel that depicted Sen. Edward Kennedy, her brother-in-law and another uncle to RFK Jr., as the target of an assassination attempt.
According to news reports at the time, Mrs. Onassis (as she was then titled after remarrying) felt she had to resign, signaling her opposition to the book, rather than remain on staff, which had already begun to make her appear complicit in Viking’s decision to publish and profit from the novel.
One passage in The New York Times’ book review of "Shall We Tell The President?" was clearly a sharp elbow aimed at the former first lady: “There is a word for such a book. The word is trash. Anybody associated with its publication should be ashamed of herself.”
To paraphrase the review’s author, John Leonard, “There is a word for the takeover of the Kennedy Center. The word is despicable. Anybody associated with the president’s action should be ashamed of himself.”
And step down.
Steven Petrow is a columnist who writes on civility and manners and the author of seven books, including “The Joy You Make,” and "Stupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old." Follow him on Threads: @mr.steven.petrow