The 2024 presidential election season certainly will be remembered for its historic twists and turns.
We have closely followed the court cases involving President Donald J. Trump at Legal Insurrection. The proceedings have been absolutely fascinating.
However, a recent announcement by independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has probably generated the most 2024 headline yet: RFK Jr. says worm ‘got into my brain and ate a portion of it.’
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. experienced a series of health issues in recent years, including an abnormality that he said was caused by a worm that entered his brain and then died, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.In 2010, Kennedy, now 70, experienced severe memory loss and mental fog, he said in a deposition two years later. According to the Times, he consulted top neurologists familiar with the medical history of his uncle, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, who had died of brain cancer in 2009.A New York doctor, after reviewing a scan of his brain, told him that his health issues could be “caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died,” Kennedy said in the 2012 deposition, which concerned a divorce from his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy. Robert Kennedy said at the time that his earning power had been negatively affected by the cognitive issues, the Times reported.
On top of the brain worm, Kennedy also shared that he experienced mercury poisoning during an interview with The New York Times.
According to The Times, during Kennedy’s 2012 deposition, he also reported having been diagnosed with mercury poisoning, which he said was the result of a diet heavy on tuna and other fish. He reportedly said, “I have cognitive problems, clearly. I have short-term memory loss, and I have longer-term memory loss that affects me.”Memory loss is more commonly associated with mercury poisoning than with a parasitic worm, experts say.Kennedy told the paper that he attributed his mercury poisoning diagnosis to his diet. He said medical tests showed his mercury levels were 10 times what the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe.”I loved tuna fish sandwiches. I ate them all the time,” Kennedy said to The Times.
Why would the NYT be interested in featuring Kennedy and his illnesses? I believe it attempts to undermine the candidate’s claim to be much more robust and sharp than the paper’s preferred candidate.
Now an independent presidential candidate, the 70-year-old Mr. Kennedy has portrayed his athleticism and relative youth as an advantage over the two oldest people to ever seek the White House: President Biden, 81, and former President Donald J. Trump, 77. Mr. Kennedy has secured a place on the ballots in Utah, Michigan, Hawaii and, his campaign says, California and Delaware. His intensive efforts to gain access in more states could put him in a position to tip the election.He has gone to lengths to appear hale, skiing with a professional snowboarder and with an Olympic gold medalist who called him a “ripper” as they raced down the mountain. A camera crew was at his side while he lifted weights, shirtless, at an outdoor gym in Venice Beach.
The article on RFK Jr. goes on to detail Kennedy’s experience with atrial fibrillation, which it notes “increases the risk of stroke or heart failure.” The NYT also reported that the candidate has not released his medical records to the publication (neither have Biden nor Trump have done so either).
If the NYT thought these admissions would directly hurt Kennedy, then it has miscalculated (again). RFK Jr. has taken the “happy warrior” approach to the revelations.
There have been a lot of fun takes on brain worm story, none of which make Biden more appealing.
There have also been amusing Star Trek references.
In terms of the parasitic infection that Kennedy experienced, the condition is known as neurocysticercosis, and is linked to larvae from pork tapeworms. The parasitic brain infection hospitalizes roughly 1,000 to 2,000 people every year in the US. It is suspected the candidate picked up the infection during his extensive travels to Africa, South America, and Asia.
Interestingly, one study of mummies from ancient Egypt and the adjacent kingdom of Nubia showed that 65% of the population experienced parasitic worm infections. I am grateful for the advancement of medicine and sanitation, which has made such infections rarer.
One final thought: The media asserts that Kennedy’s presence in the race hurts Trump more than Biden in the polls. Given how prominently the elite media is spreading the brainworm story, I am not so certain that is true.
One last prediction: The 2o24 presidential campaign cycle will generate even crazier headlines as we get closer to November.
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