The only alternative candidate to Joe Biden and Donald Trump in November’s presidential election, independent Robert Kennedy Jr., has revealed that he suffered a medical anomaly in 2010 caused by a worm that entered his brain and died he had eaten a part. In an interview for the Pushing the Limits with Brian Saphiro podcast, he says he remembers experiencing “brain fog” and “having trouble with word pronunciation and short-term memory.” When she started experiencing these symptoms, she went to the doctor and was told she had a brain tumor that needed to be removed. Kennedy decided to consult another doctor, who, when he looked at the images of the brain, doubted that it was a tumor. After observing that the anomaly had not grown, the candidate recalls being told that “almost certainly” it was “a very common parasite in India, which got into your brain, ate and he died”.
Kennedy’s campaign team said Wednesday that he had “traveled extensively in Africa, South America and Asia” as part of his work as an environmental lawyer and said he contracted the parasite in a of these trips. The New York Times, which first reported the incident on Wednesday, said Kennedy had previously spoken about the affair in 2012, when he explained he was divorcing his second wife due to health issues, but no one he gave it the attention it now receives: “My health problems could be caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a part of it and then died”, he assured then.
“The problem was resolved more than ten years ago and he is now in robust physical and mental health. Questioning the health of Mr. Kennedy is a hilarious suggestion, given his competence,” his campaign team said, comparing the candidate to the old age of Biden (81) and Trump (77). Like both candidates, the Kennedy campaign has refused to release his medical information.
A 70-year-old lawyer, he is the nephew of former president John F. Kennedy and presents himself as the candidate of the youth and of those who are looking for a third alternative to the “chaos” of Trump and the “old age” of Biden. Last year he presented his candidacy in the Democratic primaries, but ended up leaving his uncle’s party, claiming that the Democratic apparatus had turned its back on him. He is currently gathering signatures to run in every state, something he expects to accomplish in July, coinciding with the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
His figure is not without controversy. He gained notoriety in the wake of the pandemic, when he became a regular on Fox News talk shows, in which he defended anti-vaccine postulates and propagated falsehoods without scientific evidence. He has recently appeared on a series of podcasts with US far-right media figures including Alex Jones, Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson. His controversial, sometimes conspiratorial views have led his own family to ask for the vote of one of his rivals, President Biden. The latest poll, published this week by PBS, gives him 11% of the intention to vote if he can be presented. That’s a high percentage compared to what other independent candidates have gotten historically, but disappointing when you consider that his rivals receive the disapproval of nearly 60% of the population, according to the FiveThirtyEight model.
Nor is it helped by the cognitive problem revealed this week, or those he suffered throughout his life. The candidate claimed that his brain was also affected by mercury poisoning, which can cause serious neurological problems. According to Kennedy, he underwent a series of blood tests that showed his mercury levels were ten times higher than the level considered safe by the Environmental Protection Agency.
These health problems are in addition to another he has suffered from for decades, atrial fibrillation, a heart abnormality that increases the risk of strokes and heart failure. The candidate has been hospitalized at least four times. In addition, as a result of heroin addiction for a decade in his youth, he contracted hepatitis C, which has already been treated.
At 70, he is the last member of a dynasty used to tragic endings: his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in his third year in office (1963), and his father, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who was also a presidential candidate, was the victim of another crime five years later.
