RFK Jr’s wife says it’s ‘surprising and shocking’ Biden admin refused secret service protection, urges them to ‘reconsider’

On Thursday, Cheryl Hines said she fears for the safety of her husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr. She noted that "great measures" are being taken after he was denied Secret Service protection.

In a conversation with TMZ at LAX, Hines said she is "concerned about everybody's safety" and informed the reporter that to her own shock, RFK Jr. has already been denied Secret Service protection. 

When asked if she felt like she needed the protection, she said, "Well yeah, I mean, when you look at Bobby's family." She acknowledged that the history cannot be denied. 

She said that she thinks the Biden administration "needs to reconsider," their denial of protection for RFK Jr., and that "it is surprising and shocking." 

"I think it's unusual to get it early on, but it's an unusual circumstance," she concluded. 

In July, RFK Jr. announced on X that it took 88 days for the Biden administration to deny his request for protection, despite the process usually taking 14 days. He claimed that since the assassination of his father in 1968, "candidates for president are provided Secret Service protection. But not me."

RJK Jr. stated that Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas "determined that Secret Service protection for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not warranted at this time." 

According to the Secret Service website, the agency provides protection to "Major presidential and vice presidential candidates, and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election." President Biden can also issue an executive order in special circumstances. 

Mayorkas along with the Speaker of the House, House Minority Whip, Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, and "one additional member chosen by the committee" determine who is considered a "major candidate." With the Kennedy family's history of being targeted with political violence, the decision to deny him protection left many shocked. 

When RFK Jr. was nine years old, his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963. Five years later, his father Robert F. Kennedy was killed while running for president. In 1980, then-Sen. Ted Kennedy, another uncle of RJK Jr., ran against then-President Jimmy Carter. Ted Kennedy's request for Secret Service protection was immediately granted.