'Staff Exodus' Hits Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Campaign — And That's Not All, Report Says
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign has been hit with numerous resignations amid concerns over “lavish spending” and “self-serving” leadership, Mediaite reported on Tuesday.
Citing multiple unnamed sources, the news outlet wrote that Kennedy24 lost 12 of its 25 field staff members, along with two main staff members, after they quit in January.
One source close to the independent campaign partly blamed campaign manager Amaryllis Fox Kennedy for the disarray. Fox Kennedy, RFK Jr.’s daughter-in-law and an ex-CIA officer, was accused of hiring her “inexperienced” nanny to be chief of staff.
Five-figure monthly payouts to companies allegedly tied to officials in the campaign have also become an issue, according to Mediaite.
“When the reports came out and everyone saw the obscene amount of money some people are making, while they are often paying for their own promotional materials out of pocket and can’t get their gas stipend covered, many people started thinking those people are scamming and skimming to line their pockets,” a campaign worker told the news website. “This is out of alignment with the message of the candidate.”
Fox Kennedy defended the turnover in a statement to Mediaite.
“With over a hundred staff members and tens of thousands of volunteers nationwide, Team Kennedy has great folks come and go depending on the needs of each phase of the campaign,” she said.
HuffPost has reached out to the campaign for additional comment.
Axios previously reported that Kennedy24 was “burning through cash.”
Kennedy, who began his presidential campaign as a Democratic candidate and switched to running as an independent on Oct. 9, raised $7 million from October to December but spent $7.7 million, according to a Federal Election Commission filing cited by the news outlet.
The political scion was in the headlines this week when he apologized for a Super Bowl commercial produced by a super PAC that backs him. The spot borrowed the jingle and imagery of a 1960 ad that helped propel his uncle, John F. Kennedy, to the presidency as a Democrat. Bobby Shriver, the son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and a cousin of RFK Jr., slammed the ad.
“I’m so sorry if the Super Bowl advertisement caused anyone in my family pain,” Kennedy wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “The ad was created and aired by the American Values Super PAC without any involvement or approval from my campaign.”
The ad was still pinned to the top of his X account as of Wednesday morning.
