“I Like Him. I Love Him”: Chris Pratt Lauds His Wife’s Relative RFK Jr. Amid MAHA Uproar

Marvel actor Chris Pratt has defended Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a podcast, telling the host that he “loves him.”

Pratt’s wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, is the granddaughter of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who was Robert F. Kennedy’s older sister.

This makes her and RFK Jr. first cousins once removed.

Chris Pratt’s wife Katherine Schwarzenegger is cousins with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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On Monday’s episode of Club Random Podcast with Bill Maher, Pratt defended RFK Jr. and said he enjoyed spending time with him at family gatherings.

“I really got along with him well,” he told Maher. “I think he’s great, I think he’s funny, I like him. I love him.”

He went on to describe politics as a “nasty business” and said he could, in a way, relate to how people can be perceived differently from who they are.

“I’m not in politics, obviously, but there’s a certain level to this in Hollywood, because Hollywood itself is a political institution,” Pratt said.

“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.’”

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“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,” he added.

While Pratt told Maher that he did not discuss politics with RFK Jr. at the dinner table, he said it made sense for a Trump administration official to be made to look terrible.

RFK Jr. has come under fire for his skeptical views on vaccines and for actions he has taken so far as health secretary, including plans for an autism register and recently canceling nearly $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine development.

But Pratt said there were some positive things that RFK Jr. was pursuing, namely his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) efforts to target ultra-processed foods, phase out artificial food dyes, and tighten oversight of additives.

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“In politics, you inherit enemies,” Pratt said. “When you jump on the bandwagon with who is the most divisive president ever, it makes sense that you are going to be made to look terrible.”

Pratt said his interactions with RKF Jr. would mainly be playing cards, or Mafia, which is a social deduction game, and having fun at dinner, not picking his brain to find out which claims are true.

“I just kind of assume that none of them are, and for the most part, I wish him well,” he said.

“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. I think that’s a great thing.”

‘There’s certain things that would be a good thing to have,’ Pratt told Bill Maher

Image credits: Club Random Podcast

Pratt did not endorse anyone during the 2024 presidential election, but members of RFK Jr.’s family did express their disappointment at his decision to endorse Donald Trump.

In a joint statement, five of his siblings called the move a betrayal and endorsed Kamala Harris for president.

“Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story,” they said.

For Pratt, he hopes that politics will not get in the way of celebrating wins for Americans.

“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.’

“Be reasonable here. There’s certain things that would be a good thing to have. I want them all to be successful.”