Rep. Nancy Pelosi endorsed Democrat Jack Schlossberg for Congress on Tuesday, handing a major boost to President John F. Kennedy’s grandson as he enters the political arena.
The former House Speaker’s endorsement has thrust the 33-year-old Schlossberg into the national spotlight, casting him as the latest figure in a storied political dynasty.
Schlossberg, the son of Caroline Kennedy and the only grandson of the president and Jackie Kennedy Onassis, is campaigning to represent New York’s 12th District. Incumbent Rep. Jerrold Nadler announced in November that he will not seek re-election.
More than a dozen candidates are running in the Democratic primary for Nadler’s seat, including Michal Lasher — a former Nadler aide who has earned multiple endorsements from well-known Manhattan Democrats — and George Conway, the conservative Trump critic and former Republican.
“It’s certainly time for a new generation of Americans to step up and ask what they can do for their country,” Schlossberg told MS NOW in a callback to his grandfather’s 1961 inaugural address.
Schlossberg, an Ivy League-educated political commentator, has earned a reputation for his comedic social media videos, including one mocking Vice President JD Vance and another that’s his impression of Melania Trump. He has also publicly feuded with his cousin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Schlossberg has repeatedly criticized his relative in the Trump administration — he’s referred to him as “a rabid dog” — for spreading misinformation about public health, including anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.
Despite the endorsement from Pelosi, a veteran establishment figure who’s served in the House nearly 40 years, Schlossberg presents himself as a progressive leader further to the left. Last month, he stood alongside New York nurses as they went on strike for a better contract. Schlossberg also supported New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist who won his election last year. Like Mamdani and some others on the left, Schlossberg has vowed not to take donations from corporate PACS.
Less is known about Schlossberg’s platform, but so far he has called for federal tax deductions for rent, reversing the SALT cap, increasing security grants for houses of worship and repealing Trump’s tariffs.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.