JFK’s influencer grandson to run for Congress

3 months ago 8

By Cameron Henderson

November 13, 2025 — 3.30pm

John F. Kennedy’s TikTok-influencer grandson has announced he is running for Congress.

On Tuesday, Jack Schlossberg launched his campaign for a New York seat in the House of Representatives, set to be vacated by retiring Democrat Jerry Nadler.

JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg is set to run for Congress.

The 32-year-old lawyer is best known for his colourful presence on social media, where he has gained a combined 1.6 million followers for his bizarre rants, which include declaring his love for Usha Vance, impersonating Melania Trump and mocking his cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump’s health secretary.

Schlossberg struck a more sober tone in his campaign launch video, warning that America is facing a crisis “at every level” thanks to Trump.

“It’s a constitutional crisis with one dangerous man in control of all three branches of government,” he said. “He’s stripping citizens of their civil rights and silencing his critics.”

The son of JFK’s daughter, former Australian ambassador Caroline Kennedy, and the designer-artist Edwin Schlossberg, he stressed the importance of Democrats retaking control of Congress to blunt the impact of “historic cuts” to healthcare, education and childcare.

“With control of Congress, there’s nothing we can’t do. Without it, we’re helpless to a third term,” Schlossberg, who is running for a seat already held by the Democrats, said in the video.

If elected, running New York’s 12th Congressional district would mark the first full-time job Schlossberg has held since graduating from Harvard Law in 2022.

A self-styled “writer, advocate and lifelong Democrat”, the Harvard and Yale graduate was appointed Vogue’s political correspondent in July 2024 but wrote just five articles, according to Muck Rack.

He was hired in part thanks to what the magazine called his “silly goose” antics online, such as videos asking whether the second lady is “hotter” than his late grandmother, Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

“This one goes out to Usha Vance, the most beautiful woman in the world. Whenever you’re ready, I’m here for you,” he said on TikTok.

The video followed a post on X, where he asked: “True or false? Usha Vance is way hotter than Jackie O,” drawing a backlash from people who labelled his comments “creepy” and inappropriate.

In a recent video, he blamed the Republicans for the government shutdown and called on Democrats to “fight fire with fire”, before stamping the ground and impersonating a bull.

Schlossberg with his mother – and then-Australian ambassador Caroline Kennedy – in 2023 re-enacting a heroic rescue swim undertaken by his grandfather, JFK, in the Solomon Islands during World War II.

In August, he posed in a blonde wig to mock Melania Trump over her letter to Vladimir Putin, in which she called on the Russian despot to release Ukrainian children separated from their families.

“What am I saying, this make no sense,” he signed off, speaking in a thick Eastern European accent.

The millennial candidate spent his first day on the campaign bashing his “rabid dog” cousin, whom he accused of “spreading misinformation” about public health.

“RFK Jr is a dangerous person who is making life-and-death decisions as secretary of Health and Human Services,” he told MSNBC.

He went on to claim that the president had “put a collar” on his 71-year-old cousin and “has him there barking, spreading lies and spreading misinformation”.

Last month, the Kennedy scion posted an image of a Halloween costume for “MAHA Man,” in reference to Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again message.

He said its features included measles, ending cancer research and sexual assault – an apparent reference to allegations levelled against Kennedy by a former babysitter, who claimed she was groped by the health secretary in 1998.

John F. Kennedy (left) with brothers, Robert Kennedy (centre), and Ted Kennedy in 1960.

Kennedy is widely reported to have texted an apology to the accuser, saying he had no memory of the incident, but he has never commented publicly on the claims.

Schlossberg’s bid is likely to draw comparisons to that of Zohran Mamdani, another millennial who was elected last Tuesday as mayor of New York City, having experienced a meteoric rise thanks in part to his social media-friendly campaign.

Caroline Kennedy, Schlossberg’s mother, is said to have pleaded with her son not to run because it could make him a “target for violent haters”, a source close to the family told The New York Post.

The insider said Caroline Kennedy was “living in fear” because she believes “the political world has become too dangerous, too frightening, too crazy”, the source said.

Schlossberg faces competition from several other Democratic primary contenders, including New York State Assembly member Micah Lasher, who previously worked as an aide for Nadler.

Nadler, 78, said in September that he was retiring next year after more than 30 years in the House, acknowledging a widespread clamour within the party to make way for a younger generation of leaders.

The only grandson of the late president, who was assassinated in 1963, Schlossberg has previously said he was “inspired” by Barack Obama and gave a speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in which he endorsed Kamala Harris.

The Telegraph, London