Chris Pratt discusses his favorable contacts with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The Marvel star spoke on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast on Monday, August 18, when he discussed his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, and her illustrious family, including her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Schwarzenegger, 35, is Maria Shriver’s daughter and the granddaughter of Eunice (née Kennedy) Shriver. Eunice was Robert F. Kennedy Sr.’s older sister. As a result, Maria, 69, and Bobby, 71, are first cousins, which makes Schwarzenegger and Bobby first cousins once removed.
During his podcast interview, Pratt stated that he had “spent several occasions hanging with [Bobby].” Pratt observed, “The atmosphere is akin to a family dinner.” And I got along great with him.
“I think he’s great,” the 46-year-old said. “I believe he is humorous. I like him. “I love him.”
Pratt went on to describe politics as a “nasty business.”
“I’m not involved in politics, but there is a political aspect to Hollywood, as the industry functions like a political institution.” I’ve seen in Hollywood how different you can be from the person others think you are, and you can say, “Wow, that’s pure fabrication.”
“So from my little bit of experience, I’ve been able to see how the person that you are can be sometimes in stark contrast to the person that your enemy is saying that you are,” according to him. “And in politics, you inherit enemies.”
Pratt went on to discuss Kennedy’s job as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Donald Trump. “Joining forces with the most divisive president in history inevitably leads to negative perceptions.”
When the Parks & Recreation star encounters Kennedy, he doesn’t inquire about his opinions on specific issues. Noting that when they’re together, they’re generally “just playing cards or Mafia or having fun or eating dinner.”
“I’m not going to pick his brain to find out exactly which of those things are true,” Pratt told me. “I just kind of assume that none of them are, and for the most part, I wish him well.”
The Guardians of the Galaxy star went on to say, “There are some things [that Bobby] oversees that appear to have bipartisan support—like getting terrible toxic stuff out of our children’s food.”
“I believe that is a wonderful thing. If you just do that, that’s fantastic,” he remarked. “I’d hate to be so bitterly opposed to the president that any accomplishment under his administration causes me to have an allergic response. To say, ‘Oh, well, if they do it, I don’t want it to happen.” I’ll put Clorox in my kids’ cereal myself!” Be reasonable here. Certain things would be nice to have. “I want them all to succeed.”
Since becoming Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kennedy has continued to work on his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative, with one of his top priorities being to reduce ultra-processed foods and environmental toxins from foods, which Kennedy claims increase chronic disease diagnoses in children.
Along with the activities listed above, he has been an outspoken anti-vaccination campaigner, supporting the scientifically disproved notion that vaccines cause autism and alleging that the measles vaccine includes “fetal debris.” He has also called seed oils “poison” and condemned “overprescription” of drugs, particularly antidepressants, according to MSNBC.
Although Pratt did not support Kennedy’s MAHA, Bobby’s family members, including his brothers Rory, Kerry, Joseph II, and Kathleen, and cousins, have publicly criticized him.
Caroline Kennedy condemned Bobby in January, before he was confirmed to the cabinet, for supporting conspiracy theories and collaborating with Trump. Caroline, the late President John F. Kennedy’s daughter, wrote to the Senate, claiming, “Bobby himself is a predator.” He goes on to say that he is “addicted to attention and power” and, as a result, “unqualified” to determine national health policy.
In addition to Caroline’s comments, Pratt’s mother-in-law, Maria, expressed her agreement with Caroline’s criticisms of Bobby. On Tuesday, Jan. 28, Shriver sent X a photo of Caroline next to JFK’s book Profiles in Courage, for which Bobby’s father wrote the original foreword and Caroline subsequently penned an introduction.
“Courage is when you do something hard, heartbreaking, and painful… and you do it anyway,” Shriver once said. I love you, Caroline. “Always have, always will.”
In April, Maria’s brothers, Anthony K. Shriver and Timothy P. Shriver, replied to Bobby’s harsh statements regarding autism. The brothers sent the letter with the goal of “celebrating the gifts of people with autism.” (Eunice, their mother, launched the Special Olympics in 1968 as a tribute to her sister Rosemary Kennedy, who was born with intellectual disabilities.