In a wide-ranging interview with the New York Sun on Monday, former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. addressed some of his more salacious stories — including his beheading of a whale carcass and his relationship with a New York Magazine reporter — but said his focus is his health and wellness agenda and his vision for the country, not the “skeletons” in his closet. 

“I want to focus on the fact that our children are the unhealthiest kids in the world. I want to talk about the fact that we’re in a war of choice that is bringing us to the brink of nuclear destruction,” he told the Sun’s publisher, Dovid Efune. “There’s human curiosity,” he conceded. “Even all the stories about me are valuable if they are covered in a way that is fair, that is accurate,” he said. “What’s happened is the press has an imbalance … with the mainstream media, that’s the only thing they’ll talk about.”

When pressed on his relationship with New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi — who is now on leave after reportedly sending sexual photographs to the then-candidate’s cell phone — Mr. Kennedy was visibly frustrated. 

“You know what, I’m just not gonna comment on that. I don’t comment on those stories,” he said. “You seem very persistent,” he told Mr. Efune with a frown. 

When asked if he had a responsibility to talk about it given his position as a former presidential candidate and now advisor to possibly the next president, Mr. Kennedy deflected again. “Like I said — I’m not gonna comment on it.”

Mr. Kennedy explained his reasoning for not wanting to talk about his personal life shortly after. “I have so many skeletons in my closet, if they could vote I’d be king of the world,” he joked. “Unfortunately, we’ve reached a point where I’ve been answering those questions for 18 months,” he added. 

In a more unifying moment, Mr. Kennedy discussed his desire to leave politics at the water’s edge. That comment came as he was praising a supporter of Vice President Harris — Taylor Swift, who used to date Mr. Kennedy’s son, Conor.

“Taylor Swift, in my encounters with her, was an incredibly classy human being,” he said. “I think she has a lot of good sense and a lot of wisdom and she’s a very good person.”

Ms. Swift endorsed Ms. Harris just minutes after her debate with Trump ended earlier this month. 

Mr. Kennedy warned that there are some instances where politics should stop at the water’s edge. “We ought to all be able to disagree about things in our politics and still get along with each other,” he said. “I think, unfortunately, a lot of Democrats — because of the choices I’ve made — consider me deplorable. … I don’t resent that.”

Earlier in the night, Mr. Kennedy discussed his role as a Trump campaign surrogate and advisor. When asked by Mr. Efune what his role in a Trump administration would be — specifically related to health — Mr. Kennedy said he is just focused on the transition team on which he now serves. He announced that his responsibilities are “across the board,” including “all the agencies” with a specific focus on “the military and the intelligence apparatus.”

He noted that he asked the former president to include a former congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard, to join the 20-person team that is advising Trump on the 14,000 political roles he may need to fill in the executive branch. 

Mr. Kennedy also discussed his own race, and his successes with young people as a result of what he called “the new media.”

“I was censored almost completely. … I was effectively shut out,” he said, describing mainstream press characterizations of him as “fabrications” and “defamations.”

But, he added, his polling successes came when Gen Z and Millennials heard him on podcasts. 

“I was kind of a darling on those networks,” he said. “I had the affection of most of the networks and most of the liberal media.” Mr. Kennedy added that one of the reasons he felt he needed to run for president this year was because he had been “censored” by the mainstream press and social media companies for his views about vaccines.

“I found a real niche in these long form interviews,” Mr. Kennedy said, referring to independent podcasts hosted by the likes of Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson. 

“The people I could not put a dent in is Baby Boomers” because he “could not reach them” where they were consuming media, namely print legacy papers and cable news. “I wouldn’t vote for myself” had he gotten his news from those outlets, he joked. 

Mr. Kennedy dropped his independent presidential bid in August, after he failed to gain steam in enough states to come within range of 270 Electoral College votes. He has blamed Democrats for a bevy of lawsuits that were aimed at keeping him off of state ballots, which in turn led him to be denied entry to this year’s presidential debates. 

The Kennedy scion recently launched his “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which has included Mr. Kennedy and his former running mate, Nicole Shanahan, appearing for a number of interviews in recent weeks to discuss what they describe as the capture of the bureaucratic state by corporate interests. Mr. Kennedy has said he would be a key advisor to Trump on issues related to pharmaceutical and agricultural regulation, which he says have contributed to the poisoning of America’s youth. 

Mr. Kennedy has kept up a busy schedule across the country, stumping for Trump and issues he cares about. Just on Monday afternoon, he sat for an interview with Phil McGraw, more famously known as Dr. Phil. On Sunday, Mr. Kennedy spoke at the “Rescue the Republic” event alongside famous academics, actors, musicians, and comedians. 

“You deserve a President of the United States [who] is gonna protect our children,” Mr. Kennedy said at the rally. “You need to go to the polls and get your friends there and get Donald Trump and me into Washington, D.C.!”