Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described more than a decade ago how a worm ate part of his brain and caused short-term memory loss.
The independent 2024 presidential candidate revealed the information during a 2012 divorce deposition uncovered by The New York Times and published on Wednesday..
At first, doctors thought RFK Jr.’s memory loss and mental confusion were the result of a brain tumor after a dark spot appeared on his brain scans.
While packing for surgery at Duke University Medical Center in 2010, Kennedy received a call from a doctor at New York-Presbyterian Hospital who believed the symptoms were the result of a dead parasite in his head.
Kennedy said in the statement that the doctor believed the abnormality in his scans “was caused by a worm that entered my brain, ate a part of it, and then died.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in 2012 that he experienced short-term memory loss and mental confusion after a worm ate part of his brain and then died.
The revelations were part of a 2012 deposition during Mary Richardson’s (left) divorce proceedings, where Kennedy claimed that her earning power had decreased due to cognitive difficulties.
At the time of revealing this information in a statement, RFK Jr. was going through a divorce with Mary Richardson and claimed that his earning power had been diminished due to cognitive problems.
Kennedy was married to Richardson from 1994 to 2012. He is now married to actress Cheryl Hines and is running for president.
Kennedy, 70, prides himself on his athletic ability and has on several occasions shown off his fitness online by posting shirtless videos of himself showing off his abs and doing push-ups and bench presses.
Although he is 70 years old, RFK Jr. has an overall “youth” advantage over the two front-runners, President Joe Biden, 81, and former President Donald Trump, 77.
In 2020, Biden was the oldest person ever elected president — beating Trump, who set that record just four years earlier.
RFK Jr., 70, often shows off his fitness by posting shirtless videos of himself showing off his abs and doing push-ups and bench presses.
RFK Jr. ran in the Democratic primary last year, but changed tactics in October when he filed to run in November on an independent ticket.
Earlier this year he announced that Nicole Shanahan, a 38-year-old lawyer and Silicon Valley entrepreneur, would join his ticket as a vice presidential candidate.
Kennedy insists he is not in the race to sabotage either Biden or Trump and instead believes he has a real chance of becoming the first third-party candidate to win the White House. So far he has secured a spot in the November elections in Utah, Michigan and Hawaii. His campaign also claims he is on the ballot in California and Delaware.