Jack Schlossberg says his grandfather JFK would be ‘alarmed’ by how far America has fallen on the world stage |
Jack Schlossberg says his grandfather JFK would be ‘alarmed’ by how far America has fallen on the world stage
Jack Schlossberg thinks his grandfather would have been great at social media. He’s less sure JFK would recognize the country he once led.
“I think he would be shocked at how far we have fallen in terms of setting the standard for the rest of the world to follow on human rights, democracy, and freedom,” the 33-year-old Democratic congressional candidate told Fortune on the sidelines of a CEO Initiative dinner in New York City on Wednesday night.
But Schlossberg quickly added that former President John F. Kennedy would marvel at what America has built, citing a powerful economy, an innovative private sector, and breakthroughs in technology and science.
“I think my grandfather would be proud of how much our society has accomplished together,” he said.
Schlossberg is the only grandson of President John F. Kennedy, the son of Caroline Kennedy, and is widely seen as the next standard-bearer of the Kennedy political legacy. His comments tap into a broader anxiety about America’s global standing—and highlight the central tension in Schlossberg’s political message: pride in the country’s achievements, paired with concern about its direction.
He argued that Kennedy, the man who solved the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 1960s, “without firing a shot and stared down the Soviet Union without blinking,” would be unsettled by the same problems the country is still facing six decades later, from healthcare to education to immigration. “We need to do better.”
Inside Schlossberg’s first run for Congress
Schlossberg is running in a hotly contested race to fill New York’s 12th District seat currently held by retiring Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, who has served in Congress since 1992.
He’s facing off against Assembly Members Alex Bores and Micah Lasher, Trump critic George Conway, public health researcher Nina........