Jack Schlossberg says his grandfather JFK would be ‘alarmed’ by how far America has fallen on the world stage

Jack Schlossberg thinks his grandfather would have been nice on social media. He’s much less positive JFK would acknowledge the nation he as soon as led.

“I think he would be shocked at how far we have failed in terms of setting the standard for the rest of the world to follow on human rights, democracy, and freedom,” the 33-year-old Democratic congressional candidate instructed Fortune on the sidelines of a CEO Initiative dinner in New York City on Wednesday night time.

But Schlossberg He shortly added that former President John F. Kennedy would marvel at what America has constructed, citing a strong economic system, an revolutionary non-public sector, and breakthroughs in expertise and science.

“I think my grandfather would be proud of how much our society has accomplished together,” he stated.

Schlossberg is the solely grandson of President John F. Kennedy, the son of Caroline Kennedy, and is extensively seen as the subsequent standard-bearer of the Kennedy political legacy. His feedback faucet right into a broader nervousness about America’s international standing—and spotlight the central rigidity in Schlossberg’s political message: pleasure in the nation’s achievements, paired with concern about its route.

He argued that Kennedy, the man who solved the Cuban Missile Crisis in the Nineteen Sixties, “without firing a shot and stared down the Soviet Union without blinking,” would be unsettled by the identical issues the nation remains to be dealing with six many years later, from healthcare to schooling to immigration. “We need to do better.”

Inside Schlossberg’s first run for Congress

Schlossberg is working in a hotly contested race to fill New York’s twelfth District seat presently held by retiring Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, who has served in Congress since 1992.

He’s dealing with off towards Assembly Members Alex Bores and Micah Lasher, Trump critic George Conway, public well being researcher Nina Schwalbe, and others in a district that covers Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Hell’s Kitchen, and elements of the East Side. But in February, Schlossberg landed a strong backer in his first foray into politics and shared an endorsement letter he acquired from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“This is a consequential moment for the country — faith in our politics is fractured, and trust in government is tenuous,” Pelosi stated in the statement. “This moment calls for leaders who understand the stakes and how to deliver for the people they serve.”

Why Schlossberg says voters have misplaced religion

The spine of his marketing campaign is constructed round a slogan he acknowledges is “a little cheesy”: consider in one thing once more.

Speaking to Fortune’s Diane Brady, Schlossberg linked his grandfather’s legacy to what he sees as the Democratic Party’s defining failure of this second: not a collapse in coverage, however a collapse in conviction. “I want a party that has the courage again and gives people something to believe in again, because we are right now at an all-time low for people who believe in government.”

The knowledge backs him up. According to a Pew Research Center surveysimply 17% of Americans say they belief the federal authorities to do what is true “just about always” or “most of the time,” rating amongst the lowest readings in almost seven many years of monitoring.

While the Democratic National Committee’s postmortem of what went unsuitable throughout the 2024 election nonetheless stays beneath wraps regardless of Chair Ken Martin’s public pledge To launch it, Schlossberg supplied his personal learn on what Democrats preserve getting unsuitable with younger voters.

“I don’t think that people are as disillusioned as you might expect, and I don’t think that they are as far left as some of the rhetoric would have you believe,” he stated. The actual drawback is a market failure. “There hasn’t been people serving the market of young people who are interested in politics and what they want to hear about. Young people are not a monolith, and young people are really smart. They [are] really able to tell authenticity from someone who’s not telling the truth.”

Voters “aren’t looking for a superhero,” he said. “They just want someone who kind of knows how to speak their language, meet them where they are, and give them something of value.”

Democrats are ‘late to the game’

Schlossberg, a content material creator with almost 1.9 million followers throughout TikTook, instagramand xyou have got recognized social media as a crucial weak point in the Democratic technique. He’s additionally self-deprecating about his personal position in fixing it. “If I’m one of the best at this,” he instructed the viewers, “it’s not saying much.”

Before launching his political profession, the Yale and Harvard Law School graduate labored at a surf shop in Hawaii, volunteered as an EMT, and penned opinion items for Vogue, however has change into identified for his witty political commentary and provocative social media presence as a self-described “silly goose.”

“Other than my mother, I’m probably the last person who expected me to be a content creator,” he said. “That was not really my path in life.”

In 2024, Schlossberg headed to Wilmington, Delaware, to offer his ideas to the Biden campaign. They were not well received. “Long story short, I quit the campaign because I thought, if I don’t do this my way, I’m not going to be able to live with myself,” he said. About a month later, the campaign called him back.

The experience only sharpened his diagnosis of the party’s broader problem: “We’ve been out-competed in terms of reaching young people, especially…and telling them a story about what we’re for and not just being a reactive party that is against things.”

His advice for politicians trying to reach voters: “Be all elements of your self. You do not simply should be the candidate. People reply whenever you’re additionally the uncle, or the son, or the sports activities fan, or the humorous particular person that you just may be. It’s about displaying all completely different sides of your persona.”

On the sidelines, Schlossberg reiterated his take: “The Democratic Party was definitely late to the game on social media a year and a half ago.”

Schlossberg’s social media playbook

Schlossberg’s formula for viral social media success? Have no formula at all.

“My social strategy is to have none,” he said. “It’s to try to provide value to people, whatever that may be,” emphasizing that while he leans on jokes and witty takes, he always wraps it around something substantive.

“Maybe it’s a sense of humor, maybe it’s something inspiring, an accomplishment, or maybe it’s laying out information in a clear and intelligible, digestible way so that people can get educated,” he said. “A lot of the videos that do the best aren’t the ones that are wacky or pictures of me, a lot of times, they’re videos where I clearly lay out information in a way that people can understand.”

And if his grandfather were alive today?

“I feel he would don’t know how to make use of a telephone, however I feel, for some cause, he would most likely be fairly good at social media. He was very media savvy in his personal day.”

This story was initially featured on fortune.com