RFK Jr's wife Cheryl Hines asks why he doesn't have Secret Service protection considering his father and uncle were assassinated and reveals how she might take on job of first lady
- Hines said she was taking more precautions since an intruder at her LA home
- She has said called repeatedly for husband RFK Jr to get Secret Service detail
Cheryl Hines says she is more careful than ever since an intruder broke into the home she shares with husband and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr.
And she is horrified that his high-profile political role has not brought Secret Service protection.
'You would think that instance, plus the fact that his father and uncle were both assassinated, would qualify him,' she said in an interview.
RFK Jr is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, who served as attorney general and senator before being gunned down in 1968, and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1963.
RFK Jr is running as an independent on a longshot mission to topple President Joe Biden.
![Cheryl Hines says her husband and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. should have Secret Service protection, given what happened to his father and uncle](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/18/21/80198805-12980597-image-a-6_1705613360499.jpg)
Cheryl Hines says her husband and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. should have Secret Service protection, given what happened to his father and uncle
![RFK Jr is the son of Robert F Kennedy (left), who was attorney general and senator before being gunned down in 1968, and nephew of President John F Kennedy, assassinated in 1963](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/18/21/80198789-12980597-image-a-8_1705613848158.jpg)
RFK Jr is the son of Robert F Kennedy (left), who was attorney general and senator before being gunned down in 1968, and nephew of President John F Kennedy, assassinated in 1963
Hines, 58, is best known for playing wife to grumpy Larry David in 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.' And she set out her fears along with her thoughts on being first lady in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Her husband's run has put her in the eye of the storm, as his mix of vaccine denialism and conspiracy theories trigger controversy after controversy.
A mentally ill man was arrested at their Los Angeles home in October, after climbing the fence and reaching the second floor.
'I was here doing an Instagram Live, and I look out the window and see a guy in our backyard,' said Hines.
'Then I see our security person intercept him and reach for his weapon.'
The man had a fake police badge and had reportedly sent hundreds of threatening emails.
The Kennedy family has taken out a restraining order.
But Hines said it was astonishing that the Department of Homeland Security had not allocated a Secret Service detail.
She has also had to get used to the media attention that comes with a presidential candidate, particularly one who thinks vaccines do not work and compared life-saving pandemic restrictions with the murderous Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler.
![Hines has sometimes distanced herself from her husband's most controversial comments](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/18/21/80198815-12980597-image-a-7_1705613823779.jpg)
Hines has sometimes distanced herself from her husband's most controversial comments
Her response is that of a wife unlikely to toe the line as first lady. At times she has issued statements distancing herself from her husband's views.
Other times, such as when RFK Jr was accused of spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories based on the idea that Ashkenazi Jews more more immune to COVID-19, she kept silent. (He said his words were taken out of context.)
'I've learned a lot in the last two years,' she said. 'I pay less attention to social media.
'There’s a cycle to news. Things spike, they talk about it for one or two days, then they move on. And so I’ve learned to stay out of it because my words live on.
'And because Bobby’s my husband. And I would never want to hurt Bobby. I love him.'
RFK Jr has almost no chance of winning the election. So it's just as well that Hines is not exactly to start measuring up for drapes in the White House residence.
'If you’re asking me, "Has this been my dream, to be first lady?" I would say, "No."
'But if someone said to me: ‘Guess what? You’re going to be first lady tomorrow,’ I would say, "Great. Let’s do it. I can’t wait to see what this looks like."
'When I look at it like that, I think, "Wow, what an extraordinary situation."
'And if that’s what life hands you, then you accept it and experience it for everything it has to offer.'