Chris Pratt found himself in hot water when it comes to his political takes again, this time for supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who just so happens to be his in-law. Uh huh.
You almost certainly know the actor is married to Katherine Schwarzenegger. But it’s easy with the Ahnold connection to forget about the other side of the famous family. Katherine’s mother is Maria Shriver, the daughter of Eunice Kennedy, who is the sister of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy Sr. That makes Eunice the aunt of RFK Jr. — meaning Maria is his first cousin. So he and Chris are cousins-in-law. Family through marriage. But family now.
While the pair aren’t blood-related, the Marvel star refuses to say a bad word about RFK Jr., despite all of his harmful policies since becoming the Health and Human Services Secretary during Donald Trump’s administration. In fact, he’s defending him. And people aren’t too happy about that!
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During an appearance on Bill Maher’s Club Random Podcast this week, Chris spoke very highly of the controversial conspiracy theorist, saying:
“I’ve spent a number of occasions hanging with him, just in a strictly family dinner kind of vibe. I really got along with him well. I think he’s great. I think he’s funny. I like him. I love him.”
The Guardians of the Galaxy lead went on to say that “politics is a nasty business,” adding:
“I’m not in politics, obviously, but there’s a certain level to this in Hollywood because Hollywood in itself is a political institution. And I’ve seen how the person you are can be such a contrast to the person that people are being told that you are, and you can go, ‘Wow, that is pure fiction.’ And hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people are being fed that. And I’m not there to defend myself, nor am I going to jump in and be mired in this story. … So my little bit of experience, I’ve been able to see how the person that you are can be sometimes in stark contrast to the person that your enemy is saying that you are. And in politics, you inherit enemies. And when you jump on the bandwagon with who is the most divisive president ever, it makes sense that you’re going to be made to look terrible. And so I don’t know what to believe.”
How about the facts? Like how this so-called “great” guy, as Pratt says, is not a doctor and yet is telling all the health professionals in the country to ignore the experts and the science. He leads with insane, debunked conspiracy theories, he’s an anti-vaxxer, he’s destroyed years of cancer research for no reason. Oh, and his ignorant messaging demonizes autism and other disabilities while pushing an agenda of eugenics that looks shockingly similar to what the Nazi party did at the beginning of their terror — all under the guise of a “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
Chris might not know about that stuff. The Parks and Recreation alum explained he doesn’t discuss with RFK Jr. about his role in Trump’s administration or his political views:
“I’m not gonna pick his brain to find out exactly which of those things are true. I just kind of assume that none of them are, and, for the most part, I wish him well. Man, I hope – There’s certain things that he oversees that seem to be supported in a bipartisan way — like getting terrible toxic stuff out of our kids’ food.”
To him, that one thing is “great.” Chris continued:
“If you just do that, that’s amazing. I’d hate to be so mired in hatred for the president that any success from his administration is something I’d be having an allergic reaction to. To be like, ‘Oh, well, if they do it, I don’t want it to happen. I’ll put Clorox in my children’s cereal myself!’ It’s like come on, be reasonable here. There’s certain things that would be a good thing to have. I want them all to be successful.”
Yeah, no. There is no being “reasonable” toward a man who recently cut $500 million in funding for life-saving mRNA vaccines and who made dehumanizing comments about autistic people. And so much more.
Chris is falling for that all-too-common talking point, that people overreacting and inflating how bad the ideas are because they see the policymaker as an “enemy.” He’s got it backwards. We’re looking at what these people are saying and judging it on its merits. We didn’t have any opinion about RFK Jr. before he started in with all this anti-vax stuff! And with Trump, we thought of him like most did, probably — that sleazy rich guy from TV. But when you run for president, your conduct is judged on a different standard. There’s no such thing as “Trump Derangement Syndrome” — there’s just people finally looking into what’s going on with him and seeing fraud, racism, rape allegations, an embrace of fascism, and a really strong friendship with the most infamous sex trafficker in the world.
But hey, we’re sure RFK is a fun storyteller at dinner parties.
Social media users aren’t down to hear Chris defending his in-law either. Not when he’s literally ignoring every harmful policy so far since RFK Jr. became the Health and Human Services Secretary. They’re pissed off at Chris’ take, and rightfully so. See some of the powerful reactions (below):
“What a tone deaf asshole. There’s nothing funny and wonderful about cutting cancer research and funding, while firing teams of experts so rich people can get richer and sick people can die.”
“Remember when some ppl were like ‘stop being mean to Chris Pratt you don’t know his politics’ and then he goes and says something like this lol”
“Really nice of Chris Pratt to finally end all of the debate surrounding his moral character by confirming himself that, yes, he is the worst.”
“F**k Chris Pratt now. RFK Jr. literally pushes dangerous lies about autistic people”
“Pratt is a piece of nothing. He is supporting RFK, who is dismantling our healthcare system. People will die because of the Trump Administration’s incompetence.”
“I didn’t need another reason to hate Chris Pratt, but him being RFKs distant relative, and Pratt sticking up for RFKs terrible healthcare decisions is definitely a good reason.”
So, can we all agree now that Chris Pratt is the worst Chris? Listen to his conversation about RFK Jr. (below):
What are your thoughts, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments below.
[Image via Club Random Podcast/YouTube, MEGA/WENN]