Author and TV host Maria Shriver has opened up about how she and her siblings are managing their complex relationship with their cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr., revealing how they have turned to the lessons they learned from their late father, Sargent Shriver, at home to find a path forward, despite their differing political opinions.
Since RFK Jr. announced his plans to run as an independent candidate in the 2024 presidential election, before later taking on a role as President Donald Trump‘s Health and Human Services secretary, he has faced significant criticism from other members of the Kennedy dynasty, including Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg.
Maria’s brothers, Tim Shriver and Anthony Shriver, also took a stand against their cousin after he made several controversial claims about children with autism, stating that they will “never have jobs.” In response, Tim and Anthony wrote an open letter condemning any derogatory statement about those with autism.
Amid this familial fracturing, Maria, 70, and Tim, 66, both opened up to People magazine about how they are working out a way to move forward without causing any lasting damage to their family, noting that they are relying on the example set by their late father in their own home when they were children.
“I think people all have differences in every family so I think we were raised on family loyalty,” Maria explained to the outlet, while discussing the recent publication of her father’s posthumous memoir, “We Called It a War.”
“Daddy brought people of different faiths to the table, different political parties, different skin colors and was always like, that is the table.”
Tim conceded that their family, like so many others, struggles to navigate political differences, but said that the Kennedys are “working hard” to ensure that any discourse remains civil and productive.
“That’s a challenge for all American families and it’s a challenge for ours,” he explained. “But I think many of us are trying as best we can to hold fast to the idea that, even within our own family, sometimes the hardest place to treat people with dignity is at your own dinner table and so we’re working hard on that. And like a lot of families I think we’re a work in progress.”
Sargent’s posthumous memoir, which is based on a lost manuscript that was uncovered in a box among his belongings, was released on April 20—15 years after the politician and father of five died.
According to the book’s description, it offers a “firsthand account” of Sargent’s leadership during the War on Poverty, from 1964 to 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson was in office.
“The memoir offers a rare inside view of how programs like Head Start, Community Action, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA, now AmeriCorps VISTA), Job Corps, Legal Services, Neighborhood Health Centers, Foster Grandparents, Upward Bound, and Work-Study were conceived and implemented—and how Shriver’s collaborative, community-based approach can be applied to tackling poverty in America today,” the description goes on.
“The book gives the reader intimate insights into the opportunities and challenges of translating President Johnson’s audacious pledge to end poverty into a working set of social programs that continue to uplift and empower communities across the United States today.
“Shriver’s words remind us that to achieve equal opportunity and justice for all, we must again create an environment that nurtures bold ideas and empowers decisive, community-based action.”
Speaking to People, Tim noted that, while the book charts events that took place 60 years ago, he believes many of the lessons within the tome can serve as important examples to Americans in the modern era.
“One of the reasons this book is timely is because all of this energy was deployed to try and heal and strengthen the core nature of this country, not to put Americans against Americans,” he said. “But to believe in this country, to believe in your fellow Americans.”
Their comments come six months after RFK Jr.’s wife, actress Cheryl Hines, opened up about her thoughts on his family’s behavior in the wake of his presidential campaign.
Speaking to CBS News, Cheryl claimed that her mother-in-law, Kennedy matriarch Ethel, who died in October 2024, was shocked that her son was not receiving more support from his siblings.
“Bobby told her that he was running for president, and she told him she was proud of him and then asked, ‘Who of the siblings are working on your campaign?'” she recalled. “And he said that they’re not working on it and some are opposing him. And she was very surprised.”
She also admitted that she had found it “hard” to cope with the very public way in which some of her husband’s relatives had criticized him.
“It was hard. I found it to be hard,” she shared. “I always thought the Kennedy family, one of their virtues was that family came first, and I admired that. So when some of his family decided to attack him publicly, it was disappointing.”
The comedian has also seen several of her own friendships torn apart by her continued support of her husband, admitting that “a few friends” have found it “too difficult emotionally” to remain close to her in light of RFK’s political stance.