RFK Jr.'s Bizarre Brain Worm Admission Sparks Concerns

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s bizarre admission of a brain worm that he had over ten years ago has sparked concern over his cognitive abilities, which his campaign and doctors have disputed.

Mental fitness has been a major talking point in the upcoming election, as the Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden is 81 years old and the presumed GOP nominee former President Donald Trump is nearing 78.

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Kennedy, a 70-year-old independent candidate, suffered memory loss and mental fogginess in 2010 from what turned out to be a dead worm in his brain, which did not require treatment.

According to a 2012 deposition from Kennedy reviewed by the Times, doctors found a dark spot on his brain scans.

A New York-Presbyterian Hospital doctor believed the dark spot "was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died," Kennedy said in the deposition.

Kennedy said he was also diagnosed with mercury poisoning, around the time he found out about the parasite.

"I have cognitive problems, clearly," he said in the 2012 deposition. "I have short-term memory loss, and I have longer-term memory loss that affects me."

However, the Times did mention that Kennedy told the publication this past winter that he has recovered from his memory loss and that he had no lasting health issues from the brain parasite.

Kennedy's campaign press secretary Stefanie Spear told Newsweek via email on Wednesday: "Mr. Kennedy traveled extensively in Africa, South America, and Asia in his work as an environmental advocate, and in one of those locations contracted a parasite. The issue was resolved more than 10 years ago, and he is in robust physical and mental health. Questioning Mr. Kennedy's health is a hilarious suggestion, given his competition."

Despite Kennedy and his team affirming that he is no longer suffering from his 2010 health condition, people on X, formerly Twitter, shared concerns about his mental fitness.

X user David Burge with 247,800 followers posted a photo from the show Pawn Stars and wrote: "Best I can do is three geriatric lunatics with advanced worm-related brain damage," referring to Kennedy, Biden and Trump.

Yale Law School professor Scott Shapiro wrote: "Political consultant: 'Voters have concerns about your mental stability.' RFK Jr.: 'What if I tell them that a worm ate part of my brain?'"

Minnesota House Democratic candidate Will Stancil posted: "NATIONAL MEDIA: 'The key question voters are asking this election is whether Biden's brain works.' TRUMP: *incoherent rambling* RFK: 'Speaking of brains, mine gotten eaten by a worm.'

Based on what Kennedy described in the 2012 deposition, the parasite was likely a pork tapeworm larva, according to infectious disease experts and neurosurgeons who spoke to the Times. When pork tapeworm larva is found in the brain, the condition is known as neurocysticercosis.

When asked if the parasite would have lasting effects on someone's mental ability, Dr. Phil Budge, an associate professor of medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, told Newsweek via email on Wednesday: "The bottom line is, NO, this would not cause lasting effects on someone's mental abilities."

"The worm in question does not 'eat' brain (regardless of what [Kennedy] says his prior doctor said), rather it forms a cyst that displaces a small amount of brain. When the cyst dies there is some inflammation that can transiently affect brain function, but should not cause long term consequences," Budge said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent, told CNN's Jim Acosta on Wednesday that while this type of parasite is "rare," but it "does happen."

When asked if the condition affects someone's brain function, Gupta said "not typically," adding that Kennedy's mercury poisoning "could be more associated with brain fog or memory loss, but even then, it's a whole host of symptoms that might be associated with it."