Washington DC - In a new interview aired Tuesday, Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. commented on sexual assault allegations raised in a recent magazine article.

Kennedy appeared in an interview on the Breaking Points podcast, during which co-host Saagar Enjeti asked him to respond to allegations that he had sexually assaulted his family's part-time babysitter, 23-year-old Eliza Cooney, in the 1990s.

The story, published in a sweeping piece by Vanity Fair, details Cooney's claims that Kennedy had felt her up under a table at the family home and on a separate occasion groped her in the kitchen. She also suspected Kennedy of reading her personal diary.

The now 48-year-old, inspired by the #MeToo movement, said she chose to come forward after Kennedy announced his presidential bid.

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The White House contender called the article "a lot of garbage" but did not deny Cooney's assault accusation.

"I have said this from the beginning: I am not a church boy. I am not running like that," Kennedy told Enjeti. "I had a very, very rambunctious youth. I said in my announcement speech that I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world."

"I am who I am," he added.

Enjeti pressed Kennedy to say whether he denied the assault allegation, but Kennedy declined to comment on the specifics of the story.

The candidate did, however, debunk another of the article's claims suggesting he had taken a photo appearing to be consuming a dead dog while on a trip to Korea back in 2010.

Kennedy said the picture was of a goat taken during a trip to Patagonia.

"They say they have an expert who has identified that as a dog carcass. It's just not true," he said.

The Independent is in the midst of a nationwide ballot access campaign ahead of the November 2024 general election, but he told Enjeti he would not rule out accepting the Democratic nomination if President Biden steps aside.