Joe Kennedy III blasts RFK Jr. after fiery Senate hearing, fueling Kennedy family infighting: 'He must resign'

RFK Jr. faces off against Democrats in hearing over healthcare policies

Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports on RFK Jr.'s hearing pertaining to his handling of the CDC on 'Special Report.'

Joe Kennedy III on Friday denounced his cousin Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as "a threat to the health and wellbeing of every American" in a blistering social media post. 

The rare public rebuke comes one day after RFK Jr.’s contentious Senate hearing, deepening a family feud that has fractured one of America’s most famous political dynasties.

Kennedy’s statement, viewed more than 1.2 million times, opens the curtain behind the extraordinary rift inside the political dynasty. 

Once synonymous with Democrat unity, the Kennedys are now split over RFK Jr.’s embrace of President Donald Trump and his appointment to HHS Secretary under a "Make America Healthy Again" agenda. Joe Kennedy’s demand that his cousin resign marks a dramatic escalation of the feud.

INTO THE ARENA: HOSTILE DEMOCRATS, SKEPTICAL REPUBLICANS TEAR INTO KENNEDY ON THE HILL

Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy III and activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attend the 2016 Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation Restore Brooklyn Benefit at The Plaza Hotel on October 17, 2016 in New York City.  (Bennett Raglin/Getty Images)

In 2024, five of RFK Jr.’s siblings issued a joint statement blasting his endorsement of Trump as "a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story." 

Caroline Kennedy later urged senators to block her cousin’s cabinet nomination, writing in a January 2025 letter that he was a "predator" who was "addicted to attention and power" and "unqualified" to lead HHS.

On Sept. 4, RFK Jr. appeared in a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., accused him of firing CDC scientists and replacing them with "cranks" and "conspiracy theorists" who were "endangering children, leaving parents confused and scared."

TRUMP STANDS BY RFK JR. AFTER HEATED SENATE HEARING: ‘I LIKE THE FACT THAT HE’S DIFFERENT’

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. arrives to testify before the Senate Finance Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Sept. 4, 2025 in Washington, D.C.  (Andrew Harnik )

As Joe Kennedy wrote in his post, "None of us will be spared the pain he is inflicting… Those values are not present in the Secretary’s office. He must resign." 

His cousin Jack Schlossberg, President John F. Kennedy’s grandson, piled on in real time, mocking RFK Jr.’s testimony: "RFK LOSER is choking so badly LIVE."

With Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial tenure in Trump’s cabinet, the Kennedy dynasty’s divisions are now spilling into public view with some of the sharpest blows coming from within.

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The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Jasmine Baehr is a Breaking News Writer for Fox News Digital, where she covers politics, the military, faith and culture.