The DARK Side of RFK Jr., Ep. 7: Bobbysitters

Meet President-elect #Trump's controversial pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. #Kennedy, Jr.

#RFKJR is facing his first confirmation hearing before one of two Senate committees -- the Finance Committee -- this Wednesday, January 29th. He will appear before the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Thursday, January 30th.

My latest episode of the History Book Club series, "The Dark Side of RFK Jr." begins as Bobby Jr. reaches adulthood and enters Harvard University in 1972.

In previous episodes, we learned that Ethel and Robert Kennedy’s large brood were raised by nannies and babysitters while their busy political parents were absent. The situation became worse after #RFK’s assassination, when his widowed wife — unable to cope with the demands of mothering 11 unruly children — grew increasingly unstable, angry, and abusive towards them, especially Bobby Jr., whom she disowned and kicked out of the house at age 14.

After Ethel washed her hands of Bobby, his care and feeding was taken care of by a number of people, called by insiders the “Bobbysitters.”

From JFK’s old pal Lem Billings to the Brode family who took him in, to Peter Lawford when Bobby Jr. ran away to California on a drug-fueled road trip, the “Bobbysitters” were always there to protect Bobby from himself (or at least they tried).

Grown adult men shouldn’t need babysitters, but Bobby Kennedy Jr. has never been able to function without his handlers. As you will hear in this series, RFK Jr. continues to surround himself with his “Bobbysitters” — a stable of devoted sycophantic gatekeepers — to the present day.

Over the weeks ahead, we will be reading and discussing excerpted chapters from "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream," an unauthorized #biography of RFK Jr. written by Jerry Oppenheimer. The author also penned a scathing biography of RFK's late mother, Ethel Kennedy, who passed away in October 2024 at age 96.

As Kennedy's Senate confirmation hearings begin, get a sneak preview of some tough questions Kennedy is likely to be asked about his past, and will have to answer in the televised hearings.

Join me for "The Dark Side of RFK Jr." -- a continuing book club series -- and let me hear your thoughts on the book in the comments. I'll try to answer all viewer questions in future episodes.

Listen to all episodes in this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE0M1qzXbdpvFmjPRuxkPr8tn0L1Ck4O1