Robert F Kennedy Jr, the independent presidential candidate, sent a text apologizing to a woman who had accused him of sexual assault in a Vanity Fair article, it was reported on Friday, just days after the increasingly isolated member of the famous political dynasty tried to brush off the scandal.
Kennedy said in the text that he had “no memory” of the incident but nevertheless apologized in a message his accuser called “arrogant” and an attempt at “damage control”, according to the Washington Post.
Eliza Cooney, who was once a nanny and legal intern and lived in the Kennedy family home, said Kennedy made inappropriate advances and sexually assaulted her in a pantry there in the late 1990s. She was 23 at the time. Kennedy was then 45 and married with children.
In response to the public allegations, Kennedy apparently called Cooney twice, and then sent a text just after midnight on the Fourth of July, the newspaper reported. Reuters also reported the news, independently verifying the texts.
“I read your description of an episode in which I touched you in an unwanted manner,” Kennedy said in a text message to Cooney, according to the news agency.
“I have no memory of this incident but I apologize sincerely for anything I ever did that made you feel uncomfortable or anything I did or said that offended you or hurt your feelings,” Kennedy wrote, according to the reported texts. “I never intended you any harm. If I hurt you, it was inadvertent. I feel badly for doing so.”
Cooney, who said the assault damaged her confidence and her concentration on her law career, told the Post that the texts were “disingenuous and arrogant”.
“I’m not sure how somebody has a true apology for something that they don’t admit to recalling. I did not get a sense of remorse,” the Post reported her as saying.
Previously, he told a podcast host that he was “not a church boy”, but that he would not respond directly to the allegations.
Kennedy is best known for peddling anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and his work as an environmental attorney. He is the son of the late US senator and former attorney general Robert F Kennedy. He has also made a habit of making wild claims.
For instance, in a recently obtained divorce deposition, Kennedy claimed his health problems were caused by a brain worm.
His increasingly extreme and bizarre stance has split his family, with prominent members endorsing Joe Biden.
Polls show Kennedy pulling about 9% of voters, a wildcard in what is otherwise a tight race between Biden, the US president and presumptive Democratic nominee for re-election, and Donald Trump, the former US president and presumptive Republican nominee.
