4 Strange Things About RFK Jr. We Can't Ignore

A member of the closest thing the U.S. has to a royal family, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has followed in the footsteps of his father, Robert F. Kennedy, and two uncles, John F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, by jumping into politics. And while the Kennedys have suffered their fair share of tragedy, no one in the family has ever caused as many people to cringe as RFK Jr. has. RFK Jr. used to be seen as carrying on the legacy of his family by fighting for liberal causes. He was a lawyer who worked with environmental nonprofits to go after polluters and felt that Al Gore didn't go far enough for climate during the 2000 campaign. As late as July 2024, he was calling Donald Trump "a terrible president" on "Breaking Points," but less than two months later, he would endorse him, and eventually serve in his second administration as the secretary of Health and Human Services.

During his 2024 presidential run, the world got to learn a lot more about RFK Jr., and even more since he joined the Trump administration. What has come out about the son of one of America's most beloved and tragic modern figures has managed to give a lot of people the ick. Somehow, RFK Jr. reportedly cheating on Cheryl Hines is the least creepy thing he's done. But these other parts of RFK Jr.'s life are just too strange to ignore.

Leading up to the first presidential debate of 2024, CNN announced that RFK Jr. would not be included, citing his low poll numbers and the fact that he would not be on the ballot in enough states to actually win the presidency as their reasoning (per CBS News). But that didn't stop Jr. from putting on his own show, and as Donald Trump and Joe Biden faced off in CNN's Atlanta studio, Kennedy livestreamed his own debate from Los Angeles.

Calling it "The Real Debate," Kennedy's campaign rented out some studio space, brought in their own moderator and audience, and set up a podium next to a large screen. In the surreal event, which was livestreamed on sites like X and YouTube, RFK Jr. stood at the podium and silently watched the CNN debate live. After Trump and Biden answered questions, the feed would pause so his moderator could ask him the same question and he could also weigh in. Throughout the night, Kennedy made a series of, according to FactCheck, questionable claims. The oddity of the moment was quickly overshadowed by the very worrisome performance of Joe Biden, but it still managed to be one of the stranger elements of the 2024 presidential election.

When most people talk about having a brain worm, they mean there's a song stuck in their head or some random thought came around and they can't stop focusing on it. For RFK Jr., he literally had a worm eat away at part of his brain. It was first revealed in 2012 when RFK Jr. spoke about it in a deposition during his divorce from Mary Richardson Kennedy, but it wouldn't be until RFK Jr.'s run for the highest office that most people would learn about it.

As reported by the New York Times, the drama started in 2010 when RFK Jr. was dealing with some cognitive issues and went to the doctor. Scans showed a concerning spot on his brain, and it was believed that he had a tumor. But, upon further review, his doctors came to the conclusion that the spot, according to RFK Jr., "was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died." 

In the deposition, RFK Jr. said he suffered from both short and long-term memory loss, but by the time he decided to run for president, he claimed that the issues had cleared up and he was totally fine. Still, voters were understandably unsure about RFK Jr.'s dreams of living in the White House when CNN ran stories with headlines like "RFK JR. says doctors found a dead worm in his brain" and had Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon, on to explain that what RFK Jr. had was "a rare condition, but it's typically something that is caused by eating undercooked pork."

Exactly how a worm wiggled into RFK Jr.'s head remains a mystery, but there may be some clues based on Jr.'s odd hobby of collecting roadkill and other dead animals to eat later. Jr.'s unusual habit was highlighted in a video shared by Reuters in August 2024, where he spoke to Rosanne Barr about the time he took a dead bear cub off the side of the road with plans to cook it up later. Jr. stashed the bear in the trunk of his car and then went to dinner with some friends. When the dinner ran long and Jr. needed to head to the airport, he realized he wouldn't have time to stash the bear in his freezer, so he tossed it out in Central Park, figuring it would be a funny gag.

RFK Jr.'s daughter Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy told Town & Country in 2012 a story about her father taking a chainsaw to a dead whale and cutting off its head. Her dad then secured the sea creature's head on top of the family car, and drove it back to their house, which was five hours away. As Kick explained, "Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet." In another odd moment, Isabel Vincent's 2026 biography, "RFK Jr.: The Fall and Rise," quote's JR.'s own journal, where he wrote, "I was standing in front of my parked car on I-684 cutting the penis out of a road killed raccoon, thinking about how weird some of my family members have turned out to be" (via New York Post).

Exercise is important, and there is an entire industry built around creating clothing just to make sure people are comfortable while working out. But some, like RFK Jr., seemingly aren't interested in the lightweight, sweat-wicking, or breathable fabrics that offer support while also ensuring you have a full range of motion and won't suffer from chafing. For RFK Jr., clothes made out of spandex have no place in the gym. He would rather get his sweat on while wearing jeans.

RFK Jr. explained his workout wear on Fox News in August 2025, saying, "Well, I just started doing that a long time ago because I would go hiking in the morning and then I'd go straight to the gym, and I found it was convenient, and now I'm used to it, so I just do it." But what really shocked people was the video, "Rock Out Workout," which featured Kennedy getting his pump on with Kid Rock. At one point in the video, RFK Jr. and Kid Rock are seen in the sauna, where, as Kid Rock does push-ups, Kennedy uses the exercise bike wearing his jeans while going barefoot. He then leaves the sauna and takes a cold plunge while still wearing his jeans. While denim can take a lot of abuse, they aren't meant for the kind of activities done at the gym, and chances are anyone wearing jeans to work out is going to need a lot of anti-chafing powder.