Kennedy faces Manhattan test as online war erupts

Jack Schlossberg says the final stretch of Tuesday’s Democratic primary has turned into something more than normal campaign conflict: bot-driven attacks, personal insults, and an argument that his family name can open doors—and also trap him. With the 12th Dis

When Jack Schlossberg steps out to talk with voters on a street corner in the Upper West Side, he brings a practiced smile and his trademark double thumbs-up. But in the run-up to Tuesday’s Democratic primary, the campaign story isn’t just about policy, or even turnout.

It’s about control—of the message, of what gets leaked, and of what shows up online.

Schlossberg. whose name will appear on the ballot. is describing a campaign environment where his stumbles have become entertainment for many people. and where he says he’s facing bot armies created to astroturf bad comments about him online. He also says he has tried to fight back with theater of his own: allies putting up “SELLOUTS BEWARE ↑” signs around posters of his opponents. and Schlossberg himself arguing that the fight is happening not only in person. but through coordinated digital noise.

He argues his candidacy is built for the attention economy. A guy who quickly turned his lineage into a massive online following and became a star of the last Democratic National Convention. he says. could connect with voters who think politics is pointless and their leaders are terrible. The stakes. though. are personal: Schlossberg is also trying not to let the Kennedy name—and the people who get excited by it—become a disappointment if he doesn’t win.

He could still emerge from an eight-candidate race for the 12th District that requires only a plurality to win. But the final days have been dominated by conflict over what’s real, what’s borrowed, and what was missed.

Schlossberg’s campaign has drawn the attention of multiple polls and the wariness of friends who have been helping him. and it has also pulled in sharp criticism from within the political orbit. One key moment came when retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler. 79. interrupted an answer to another question from CNN to describe Schlossberg as “somebody with no credentials and no anything getting into the race.”.

Nadler said he had not gotten a heads-up from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime Kennedy family friend, when she endorsed Schlossberg to run for Nadler’s seat.

As the dispute over Schlossberg’s credibility has grown. some friends bemoan that the race could have gone differently if someone had managed his charisma and talent better. They also acknowledge that he can make that management difficult. To arrange an interview with him. for example. the request goes to his personal assistant because he fired more traditional staff like a press secretary after the first few weeks of his campaign.

“It’s true. people cannot accept the fact that I might be a smart. hardworking person who is just really trying. because that’s unacceptable for some reason. ” Schlossberg told CNN. “And so. I’ve got to be crazy. I’ve got to be completely unable to function and taking naps because what you see is someone who’s been really effective and taken seriously by the people who support him. And the people who support us are, like, diehard.”.

The “taking naps” line connects to a story that has followed him since May. The New York Times reported an anecdote in which. on the day Schlossberg was preparing to launch his campaign. he told aides suddenly that he had to go home to sleep. Schlossberg says the reason was not campaign burn-out—it was family.

What he says was happening on November 12. he has told friends and reiterated to CNN: he was going to see his sister Tatiana Schlossberg. who had not yet revealed her terminal leukemia diagnosis. and he didn’t trust any of the new people around him not to leak the news. Tatiana Schlossberg’s essay in The New Yorker disclosing her illness was published on November 22. She died on December 30.

Schlossberg, who is 33, never met President John F. Kennedy. He can recall early memories with his near-doppelganger uncle John Jr. who remains such a fascination that he’s the topic of the Hulu series “Love Story” that just aired. nearly 27 years after the plane crash that killed him. The family says that portrayal is an awful one.

His mother, Caroline Kennedy, and Schlossberg share what he describes as a tight bond. He shares her laugh and what he calls a simultaneously insider and awkward outsider approach to politics. along with her reluctant protectiveness of the family legacy. He also benefitted, he says, from her network of influential friends she corralled early into donating to his campaign.

The district he wants to represent—Manhattan’s 12th—has an audience that’s unusually tuned to the Kennedy story. It’s a place where what’s wrong with the Democratic Party is debated at bodegas and society fundraisers. where teenage girls ask Schlossberg for selfies on the sidewalk. and where. last week. an older woman spent 10 minutes on a street corner talking with him about his family embodying the ideals of Catholic upward mobility.

The question, though, is whether his legacy helps him win—or whether it becomes the whole fight.

In the race, Nadler is backing Micah Lasher, an assemblyman. Nadler said he knew he would back Lasher “the moment I decided not to run. ” and that one of the reasons he decided not to run was that he knew Micah could carry on. Helped by Nadler’s backing, Lasher has racked up many local politician and union endorsements.

Lasher framed the decision in the language of trust: “When people say. ‘I just voted for you. ’ or ‘I’m planning to vote for you. ’ what they’re really saying is. ‘On the basis of not enough information. I’m making a decision to trust you to do the right thing for me. ’” he said. “And that is a very heavy thing. And it is humbling and wonderful and sometimes overwhelming.”.

Another competitor drawing attention is fellow Assemblyman Alex Bores, a former engineer for the data and AI company Palantir. Bores has become a focal point for huge spending both for and against him from artificial intelligence-focused PACs. He said the race is still “very much a local race. ” centered on housing costs and other local issues. while warning that the impact of the winner will go beyond what the person directly does in Congress because it sends “the message” to other members of Congress.

Asked directly by CNN about their feelings on Schlossberg, Lasher and Bores both demurred. Lasher. however. has implied in a recent debate that the Kennedy legacy is essentially all there is to Schlossberg’s candidacy. Lasher said: “As someone who grew up enormously admiring the legacy of service in your family. Jack. I say this somewhat sheepishly and mournfully. ” before adding that he is on stage because of nearly two decades in public service.

Schlossberg fired back: “Do not ever invoke my family name to try to denigrate who I am and the person that I am.” Bores recently took a shot at both Lasher and Schlossberg, saying, “I think this district deserves more than establishment or entitlement; it deserves effectiveness.”

The disagreements aren’t limited to style and résumé. They also touch on foreign policy and the boundaries of what donors, supporters, and competitors expect from him.

A dispute has emerged over his position on arms funding for Israel. Schlossberg is described as the only candidate in the district to come out against arms funding for Israel. and that has frustrated some donors his mother helped line up under assurances he would not. according to people familiar with those conversations. In late May. Politico reported that Schlossberg had told an exclusive private club earlier that month. “I probably would have continued funding Israel’s offensive weaponry within the years following October 7.”.

Schlossberg now opposes sending offensive weapons to Israel but backs supplying its Iron Dome missile defense system. He told CNN that his positions evolved—especially after the US and Israel launched the latest war with Iran—and that the change is an example of how he can be a “bridge” between generations and points of view.

“In the beginning it was like, ‘Don’t touch it,’” he said. “I was, like, ‘Why?’ I think we should be talking about these things, and to my surprise, like in person, when I give my answer in person, people say, ‘Wow, that was like a really great answer,’ even if they don’t agree with me 100%.”

He also linked the issue to what he sees happening across politics: “I see this as like a really important thing for the party too because I think we’re getting into some dangerous territory with Israel being kind of how people are making their identity with their campaigns. ” he said. adding that he believes “a lot of it is this bot activity.”.

The human story behind the campaign—loss, timing, and what gets said when people are trying not to say it—hangs over many of the political arguments. And it shows up again in a political past that’s never fully behind him.

For several weeks in late 2008 and early 2009. Caroline Kennedy was trying to be appointed to the Senate seat that Hillary Clinton gave up to become Obama’s secretary of state. That effort collapsed amid questions about Caroline Kennedy’s experience and a series of interviews where even the number of times she said “you know” became mockery. and a question of whether she measured up to the Kennedy legacy. She eventually withdrew from consideration just after Obama was sworn in. Schlossberg was 16 then.

He said he and his mother thought through political decisions together—starting with Obama in 2007, then whether to endorse Biden in 2020. He paused briefly and said, “It all worked out in the end,” adding that “Ambassador was an amazing role for her.”

Since Tatiana’s death, Kennedy has “hardly been in public” and has not engaged much with friends. Yet Schlossberg’s final ad features her speaking directly to camera about what he says politics needs. The ad includes a split screen of black-and-white footage of her playing with her father. In the final seconds, Schlossberg comes into frame to wrap her in a hug.

He said: “President Kennedy is really. you know. a hero. and I memorized his speeches as a kid and did a lot of work at the Kennedy Library and I see how much my mom and dad have both given up their lives to. kind of. in service of that. ” before adding: “I think it pushes me to be brave and to have courage and to know what I stand for. I’m not about to say that it’s a bad thing. But it sort of filters how everything is perceived, good or bad.”.

Even his campaign timeline is framed through how much time voters think they have—and how much pressure comes from the idea that the “right” moment has already passed.

He hasn’t started thinking about the morning after Tuesday yet, win or lose. Instead, he keeps returning to the feeling that people are already writing off the race if he doesn’t win.

“The only thing that frustrates me — I can take anything. I’ve heard it all — but when people say like. ‘Oh well. you’re early out and if you don’t win. you’ll do it again. ’” he said. “We’re kind of running out of time here to change things up. and we all have no idea what’s going to happen in our lives. Not to be morbid, but something terrible could happen.”.

“The time is right now,” he added. “I just really thought people were keyed into the fact that this is a code-red, emergency situation for America and our party.”

In the run-up to Tuesday, every argument circles back to the same knot: whether politics in this district is being fought through credential, through service, through family myth, or through the battle over what voters actually see and believe.

And for Schlossberg, the question is not only whether he can win a seat, but whether the country that’s watching—online and off—will stop treating his name like the whole story, long enough to hear what he’s trying to say.

Jack Schlossberg Caroline Kennedy Tatiana Schlossberg Democratic primary New York 12th District Jerry Nadler Micah Lasher Alex Bores Iron Dome bot activity ranked-choice voting Nancy Pelosi campaign