Brittany Cartwright Criticizes Robert F. Kennedy for Controversial Statements Regarding Children with Autism

Brittany Cartwright’s response arrives weeks after the Bravo reality star revealed that she and Jax Taylor‘s 3-year-old son, Cruz, was diagnosed with autism.

On April 16, President Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Kennedy, spoke about the “environmental toxin” causing autism during a press conference.

He discussed the rates at which children are being diagnosed and how they could face challenges as they age.

In his speech, according to NPR, he told the media that there are kids with autism who will never be able to “pay taxes” or “play baseball.”

“They’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date,” he continued.

However, Cartwright, who recently revealed her 3-year-old son was diagnosed with autism, fired back at the politician on her podcast, “When Reality Hits.”

“But that is not everybody,” Cartwright said on the April 18 episode of her podcast.

She continued, “That just kind of rubbed me the wrong way a little bit. It kind of made me sad because it’s such a public platform, and misinformation is a big deal.”

In April 2025, days before season 2 of “The Valley” aired on Bravo, Cartwright revealed in a previous interview that her son, who’s mostly nonverbal, was diagnosed with autism.

“It can be difficult because I’ve never heard him say, ‘I love you,’ but he is so loving, and he shows me he loves me every single day,” she said. “He is such a mommy’s boy.”

She went on to say that while her son may face some “challenging times,” he will still experience a happy, healthy, and full life.

“What I really want people to understand about autism is he sees the world so much more vibrant and amazing than any of us ever will. It doesn’t mean that he’s not going to be the smartest in his class. It doesn’t mean he is not going to work for NASA one day. There aren’t any limitations to what he can do,” said Cartwright.

Later, on her podcast, Cartwright explained why she decided to open up about her son’s diagnosis.

“I just felt like it was time to talk about Cruz because with the show coming out and everything, I knew people would notice that he was still non-verbal and everything,” she said. “I felt like it was up to me to address it.”

Cartwright explained that she hopes her family can be positive advocates for other families experiencing something similar.

In a previous interview, Cartwright, who joined the Bravo family in 2015, admitted she and her family are still learning how to best support Cruz following his diagnosis.

“The world doesn’t know,” she said about raising a child with autism. “There’s so many people [who] think they’re doctors in the comment[s] section … that think they know everything that’s going on. I’m like: ‘No, you don’t. Because even I don’t know.’”

The 36-year-old said she and Taylor are “learning as we go,” and if they can help others, that would be a “dream come true.”