Tatiana Schlossberg criticises cousin RFK Jr. amid terminal cancer diagnosis

Tatiana Schlossberg disclosed her terminal cancer diagnosis while openly criticising her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine views in a personal essay published in the New Yorker.

The 35-year-old environmental reporter revealed she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia and had been told she has one year to live.

She first received the diagnosis after giving birth to her daughter in May 2024 and subsequently underwent a bone marrow transplant at Memorial Sloan Kettering, followed by chemotherapy at home. She and her husband, George Moran, are also parents to their son Edwin.

Schlossberg wrote that her diagnosis unfolded at the same time RFK Jr., 71, suspended his independent presidential campaign and endorsed Donald Trump in 2024 before joining the Trump administration as secretary of Health and Human Services.

She recalled watching from her hospital bed as he was confirmed, noting, “My mother wrote a letter to the Senate, to try and stop his confirmation; my brother had been speaking out against his lies for months.”

She described feeling vulnerable in a healthcare landscape she believed was “strained [and] shaky”, especially as funding cuts hit Columbia University, where her husband works as a doctor. She also expressed concern about vaccine access for people with compromised immune systems, writing that RFK Jr. is “a known skeptic of vaccines”.

Schlossberg criticised her cousin’s past remarks on the “Lex Fridman Podcast” in which he claimed “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective”, adding, “Bobby probably doesn’t remember the millions of people who were paralyzed or killed by polio before the vaccine was available.”

She reflected on the shock of her diagnosis late in pregnancy, explaining she had felt healthy and active. Her essay also referenced longstanding tensions within the Kennedy family, including statements from multiple relatives who condemned RFK Jr. for endorsing Trump.

More recently, her brother Jack announced his candidacy for Congress, saying he intends to “listen to your struggles, hear your stories, amplify your voice” ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.