Jack Schlossberg
Schlossberg in 2024
Born
John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg

(1993-01-19) January 19, 1993 (age 33)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Education Yale University (BA)
Harvard University (JD, MBA)
Political party
Democratic
Parents
  • Edwin Schlossberg (father)
  • Caroline Kennedy (mother)
Family
  • Kennedy family
  • Bouvier family
Website Campaign website

John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg (born January 19, 1993) is an American political commentator and author. He is a member of the Kennedy family and the Bouvier family.

On November 11, 2025, Schlossberg announced his run to become the Democratic candidate in New York's 12th congressional district in the 2026 U.S. House of Representatives election. He ran for the seat being vacated by retiring incumbent Jerry Nadler, but lost in the Democratic primary.

Early life and education

John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg[1] was born on January 19, 1993, in New York City, to designer Edwin Schlossberg and diplomat Caroline Kennedy.[2] Schlossberg is named after his maternal grandfather, John F. Kennedy of the Kennedy family, who served as U.S. president (1961–1963) and as U.S. senator from Massachusetts (1953–1960), and after a matrilineal great-grandfather, John Vernou Bouvier III, who was a Wall Street stockbroker from the Bouvier family. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts was his grand-uncle as well as godfather.[3][4]

His father comes from an Orthodox Jewish family of Ashkenazi Jewish descent from Ukraine, and his mother is a Catholic of Irish, French, Scottish, and English descent. He was raised Catholic, but his mother would also "incorporate Hanukkah" in the family's holiday celebrations.[5] Schlossberg and his two older sisters, Rose and Tatiana (1990–2025),[6] were primarily raised on Manhattan's Upper East Side,[7] but also spent significant time at Red Gate Farm, the Aquinnah, Massachusetts estate of their maternal grandmother, the First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, while growing up.[2]

Schlossberg attended Collegiate School. In eighth grade, he co-founded ReLight New York, a nonprofit organization that installed energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights in low-income housing developments.[8] In 2010, Schlossberg worked in Washington, D.C., as a Senate page for then-Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, and the following year, as a Senate intern.[9] He then attended Yale University, graduating in 2015 with a degree in history, with a focus on Japanese history.[10] While at Yale, Schlossberg was known to perform stand-up comedy,[1] was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity,[11] and wrote for the Yale Daily News and The Yale Herald.[12]

Schlossberg lived and worked in Japan where his mother was the U.S. Ambassador,[13] before enrolling at Harvard University where he graduated from the joint Juris Doctor – Master of Business Administration program at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School in 2022.[14] In February 2023, he passed the New York bar exam.[15]

Schlossberg has been a resident of the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.[16]

Schlossberg with his mother Caroline at Kennedy Island in 2023

Career

Since 2011, Schlossberg has contributed articles and op-eds to various publications, including Time, The Washington Post, and Vogue.[17][18][19] In 2015, Schlossberg started working at Rakuten, a Japanese internet and e-commerce company, in Tokyo.[13][9] He also worked at the Japanese distillery Suntory.[9] He met Hiroshi Mikitani, the CEO of Rakuten, while visiting Sendai accompanying his mother on her duties as U.S. ambassador to Japan.[13] Schlossberg returned to the United States in 2016 to work as a staff assistant in the State Department's Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs; The New York Times reported that he held the role for "less than four months".[20][18] He had a cameo role in the eighth-season finale of the television show Blue Bloods in 2018.[21][22]

Social media presence

Schlossberg maintains active and public profiles across several social media platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, and X (Twitter), having nearly 2 million followers. Columnist Maureen Dowd described his social media personality as "charismatic — and sometimes pugnacious, crude and off-the-wall". Dowd says he "feigns being crazy", and "spars and trolls" and "engages in high jinks".[16] Schlossberg has been criticized by some due to his social media posts, including one comparing the "hotness" of Usha Vance to his grandmother Jackie Kennedy Onassis, which "drew immediate backlash", and where he later explained was intended to provoke discussion and test the limits of online discourse.[23][24][25]

In February 2025, attorney Alan Dershowitz announced his intention to sue Schlossberg for defamation following an Instagram video in which Schlossberg falsely claimed Dershowitz had killed his wife. Schlossberg initially deactivated his account before returning to mock the legal threat.[26][16]

Political aspirations

Schlossberg first became interested in politics in 2007, when then-Illinois US Senator Barack Obama began his presidential primary campaign.[27] He said Obama's campaign inspired him to learn about politics and to study the legacy of his grandfather, John F. Kennedy.[28] In 2012, when asked about his interest in entering politics, Schlossberg stated: "Politics definitely interests me. I'm most interested in public service. I think that's something that I got from being part of my family, which is such an honor."[29]

Democratic National Committee

Schlossberg with President Joe Biden and mother Caroline in Boston, Massachusetts, 2022

In August 2020, Schlossberg gave a virtual address on the second night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention with his mother, Caroline, and endorsed Joe Biden's run for the presidency.[30] In 2023, Schlossberg publicly criticized the presidential campaign of his first cousin once removed, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and supported Biden’s re-election.[31]

Schlossberg gave his first in-person speech on the second night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where he endorsed Kamala Harris.[32] In September 2024, Schlossberg became co-chair of the environmental organization Climate Power's campaign "Too Hot Not to Vote", an initiative designed to "engage, educate and motivate people to vote for climate and clean energy champions” in the 2024 presidential election.[33] Media outlets have portrayed Schlossberg as a "new face" of the Kennedy family, and a "new hope" of the Democratic Party.[34][35]

U.S. House of Representatives race

Main article: 2026 United States House of Representatives elections in New York § District 12

Following Congressman Jerry Nadler's September 2025 announcement that he would not seek re-election in 2026, Schlossberg expressed interest in mounting a campaign for Nadler's seat, representing New York's 12th congressional district.[36] On November 11, 2025, he announced his candidacy.[37] Schlossberg's candidacy has been criticized by primary opponents and political analysts for a lack of professional experience and local civic engagement.[38][39][40]

In May 2026, The New York Times published an investigative report characterizing Schlossberg's campaign operation as "erratic and plagued by turnover".[18][41] Former staffers alleged that Schlossberg frequently missed weekly strategy meetings, abruptly terminated personnel, or neglected to formally notify employees of their dismissal.[18]

Schlossberg was defeated in the Democratic primary on June 23, 2026, finishing third behind Micah Lasher and Alex Bores.[42]

References

  1. ^ a b McNeil, Liz (May 6, 2015). "Jack Schlossberg, President John F. Kennedy's Grandson". People. Archived from the original on February 10, 2025. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Andersen, Christopher P. (2014). The Good Son: JFK Jr. and the Mother He Loved. Gallery Books. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-4767-7556-2.
  3. ^ Kennedy, Caroline; Schlossberg, Jack; Crowley, Candy (September 6, 2012). "Caroline Kennedy and her son, talk with CNN's Candy Crowley". CNN. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  4. ^ Gliatto, Tom (October 7, 1996). "Bridal Sweet". People. Archived from the original on December 26, 2024. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  5. ^ Kornbluh, Jacob (November 12, 2025). "Will Jack Schlossberg's Jewish roots help him in bid for Nadler's seat?". The Forward. Retrieved March 23, 2026.
  6. ^ Kile, Meredith (December 30, 2025). "Tatiana Schlossberg, Writer and Daughter of Caroline Kennedy, Dead at 35". People. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
  7. ^ Quinn, Dave (May 5, 2017). "How JFK's Grandson Stepped into the Spotlight". People. Archived from the original on January 25, 2025. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  8. ^ DiBlasio, Natalie (November 20, 2013). "Who is the hot new Kennedy?". USA Today. Archived from the original on January 25, 2025. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c Kaloi, Stephanie (July 22, 2024). "All About JFK's Grandson Jack Schlossberg". People. Archived from the original on February 11, 2025. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  10. ^ McNeil, Liz (May 6, 2015). "JFK's Grandson Jack Schlossberg: 5 Things to Know About Him". People. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  11. ^ "Prominent Alumni". SigEp. Archived from the original on January 27, 2025. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  12. ^ Brennan, Danielle (November 21, 2013). "JFK's grandson takes center stage: 9 things we know about Jack". Today. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  13. ^ a b c "ケネディ駐日米大使の息子が楽天入社 営業など担当" [Son of U.S. Ambassador to Japan Kennedy Joins Rakuten and Responsible for Sales and Others]. The Nikkei (in Japanese). Tokyo. December 16, 2015. Archived from the original on August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  14. ^ Slane, Kevin (November 17, 2017). "JFK's grandson on Harvard Law School: 'I don't have a life, but that's what I signed up for.'". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on April 23, 2024. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  15. ^ McRady, Rachel (December 6, 2024). "Jack Schlossberg Says It's 'Not Unlikely' He Passed the N.Y. Bar in the Top 1% on His First Try". People. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  16. ^ a b c Dowd, Maureen (November 11, 2025). "Jack Schlossberg, Social Media Provocateur, Gives Politics a Try". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  17. ^ Ghys, Clément (September 11, 2024). "Jack Schlossberg, l'unique petit-fils de JFK et la politique dans le sang". Le Monde (in French). Archived from the original on February 11, 2025. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  18. ^ a b c d Fandos, Nicholas (May 14, 2026). "Inside Jack Schlossberg's Chaotic Campaign to Revive Camelot". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
  19. ^ Garcia, Sandra E. (July 12, 2024). "Jack Schlossberg Is Named a Political Correspondent for Vogue". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 9, 2025. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  20. ^ Kimble, Lindsay (December 14, 2016). "JFK's Grandson Jack Schlossberg Talks Trump and LSAT". People. Archived from the original on February 9, 2025. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  21. ^ Haas, Mariah (May 12, 2018). "John F. Kennedy's Only Grandson, Jack Schlossberg, Makes His Acting Debut on Blue Bloods". People. Archived from the original on August 2, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  22. ^ Schlossberg, Jack (August 20, 2024). "You Don't Know Jack!". Town & Country. Archived from the original on January 27, 2025. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  23. ^ Werner, Kayleigh (January 21, 2025). "JFK's grandson baffles followers asking if Usha Vance is 'way hotter' than his grandmother Jackie O". MSN. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  24. ^ Dowd, Maureen (November 11, 2025). "Jack Schlossberg, Social Media Provocateur, Gives Politics a Try". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  25. ^ Raposas, Rachel (February 10, 2025). "Jack Schlossberg Finally Explains His Controversial Social Media Posts — and Why He Loves to Lie About His Life". People. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  26. ^ Fiallo, Josh (February 20, 2025). "Alan Dershowitz: I'm Suing JFK's Grandson for Defamation Over 'Wife-Killer' Dig". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
  27. ^ Fisher, Hannah; Jackson, Peter (July 10, 2024). "Jack Schlossberg Is Just Being Himself". Vogue. Archived from the original on July 13, 2024. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
  28. ^ Yoshimura, Marina; Schlossberg, Jack (February 25, 2018). "Talking Politics and the Future with John Schlossberg'15". The Yale Globalist. Archived from the original on December 10, 2024. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  29. ^ Crowley, Candy; Schlossberg, Jack (September 6, 2012). "Caroline Kennedy and her son, talk with CNN's Candy Crowley". CNN. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  30. ^ Storey, Kate (August 18, 2020). "Why Jack Schlossberg, President John F. Kennedy's Only Grandson, is Speaking at the 2020 DNC". Esquire. Archived from the original on October 5, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  31. ^ Epstein, Reid J. (July 21, 2023). "J.F.K.'s Grandson Calls Robert Kennedy's Campaign 'an Embarrassment'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  32. ^ Jaclyn, Diaz (August 20, 2024). "WATCH: Jack Schlossberg, grandson of President John F. Kennedy, addresses the DNC". NPR. Archived from the original on January 25, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  33. ^ Gardner, Chris (September 12, 2024). "Climate Power's "Too Hot Not to Vote" Campaign". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 12, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  34. ^ Moran, Sharir (February 23, 2020). "Meet JFK's Grandson Jack Schlossberg, the Democrats' New Hope". Haaretz. Archived from the original on January 30, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  35. ^ Shanahan, Mark (May 5, 2017). "Is this the new face of the Kennedy clan?". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on December 13, 2024. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  36. ^ Fandos, Nicholas (September 2, 2025). "A Kennedy, a Protégé and a Progressive Star Eye Nadler's N.Y. House Seat". The New York Times. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  37. ^ King, Maya (November 11, 2025). "Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy Heir, to Seek Nadler's N.Y. CongressionaNew Yorkl Seat". The New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
  38. ^ Allison, Alisha (March 16, 2026). "NY-12 candidates are contending with Jack Schlossberg's 'Love Story' factor". City & State New York. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
  39. ^ Lutz, Eric (November 17, 2025). "Democratic Strategists Mull Jack Schlossberg's Odds of Getting Into Congress". Vanity Fair. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
  40. ^ King, Maya (November 11, 2025). "Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy Heir, to Seek Nadler's N.Y. Congressional New York Seat". The New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
  41. ^ "'I run an operation that is nimble and small': Jack Schlossberg dismisses NYT report about 'erratic' House campaign". CNN. Retrieved May 15, 2026.
  42. ^ McKinley, Jesse; Balk, Tim (June 23, 2026). "Schlossberg's Defeat Dampens Dream of a Renewed Camelot". The New York Times. Retrieved June 24, 2026.
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