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Consider This from NPR

Is Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg ready to lead?

Consider This from NPR

NPR

News Commentary, Daily News, News, Society & Culture

4.26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2026

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Is Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg ready to lead? We ask him.


Schlossberg seems to be trying to follow the path his grandfather John F. Kennedy took when he was elected to Congress almost eight decades ago.

And his campaign has momentum. Lots of attention, favorable press and the endorsement of Speaker of the House emeritus Nancy Pelosi.

But now after the New York Times article – he’s speaking out – a lot.  

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Mia Venkat, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane.

It was edited by Courtney Dorning.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

It's consider this, where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, the heir to a political dynasty tries to take his place. A little less than a year ago, John Bouvier-Kennedy Schlossberg, better known as Jack, was hosting a YouTube show from his van.

0:15.0

And I saw a dolphin yesterday. In the East River. No, in Hudson. I couldn't believe it.

0:19.1

And trolling his Kennedy cousin, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s history of anti-vaccine

0:25.1

activism. Lifelong anti-Semite RFK loser, who claimed that COVID was caused by Oskanazi Jews, announces another baseless claim.

0:33.7

But when New York Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler decided not to run for re-election to New York's 12th congressional district, the son of Caroline Kennedy, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis decided to throw his hat into the ring.

0:48.7

I'm not running because I have all the answers to our problems. I'm running because the people of New York 12 do.

0:53.9

Schlossberg is selling himself as an unconventional candidate who has the media savvy to

0:58.1

break through the 24-7 den of social media. But this new media candidate from one of the

1:03.3

oldest political dynasties in America has gotten attention from traditional media that most

1:08.9

first-time congressional candidates can only dream of.

1:11.3

I was also a Senate page for my Uncle Teddy.

1:14.1

There was the lengthy profile and interview with Mo Rocca on CBS's Sunday morning.

1:18.7

There's a lot of misinformation now and iconography being used about the Kennedy family,

1:23.7

my family, at a time when we really can't afford to confuse people.

1:27.2

Then the diner lunch and tour of New York's Grand Central Station with CNN's Dana Bash.

1:31.6

An American landmark still standing, largely thanks to his grandmother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

1:38.2

She helped to save Grand Central Station. She's Upper East Side, born and bred. So she's from the district I'm running in.

1:44.0

And the 4,000-word profile in the New York Times ahead of his campaign announcement.

1:48.6

But now, that same newspaper has published a detailed behind-the-scenes story about Schlossberg's campaign that has people questioning his credentials and readiness to serve.

1:58.0

He defended himself against the claims of that article in an interview last week on the brief with Jen Saki.

2:02.6

So you didn't skip meetings early on in the campaign or in the first couple of weeks?

2:06.9

Who would I be meeting with? Who is this person? I have no idea what they're talking about. And they said that I took a nap in November.

...

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