Why Is It Funny That RFK Jr. Had A Literal Brain Worm? The Jokes And Memes Mocking Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Explained

Last week, the New York Times reported that longshot 70-year-old presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose pitch to voters is that he has more virility compared to aging frontrunners Joe Biden and Donald Trump, once admitted to having a parasitic brain worm that ate a chunk of his brain and died.

For most of social media, this was hilarious news, and not just because of users' feelings towards Kennedy as a political candidate. Instead, it had to do with a long-running meme on political Twitter about none other than brain worms.

What Is The 'Brain Worm' Meme?

In political Twitter parlance, "brain worms" is used as an insult to describe an addled politician or pundit. Generally, it's used to describe someone who adheres so strongly to their concept of reality that they lose touch with the world around them (see also: "pundit brain," "extremely online," etc.).

The term may have been coined by Dasha Nekrasova of Red Scare in an Infowars interview in 2018.

However, until RFK Jr., no one accused of having brain worms was actually confirmed to have had brain worms. And for many, the announcement made a lot of sense.

How Has Social Media Reacted To RFK Jr. Having A Brain Worm?

First off, it's important to note that, by Kennedy's admission, he was diagnosed with a brain worm in 2010. He did this during a 2012 divorce deposition that was uncovered by the Times last week.

Kennedy also is an… off-beat Presidential candidate, even by modern standards. He is well known politically for his anti-vaccination rhetoric and activism, which did exist before he was diagnosed with a parasitic brain worm but intensified around 2015 and was a hot topic of discussion during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Furthermore, it appeared to greatly hinder Kennedy's pitch to voters as the "youthful" and "capable" alternative to the Democratic and Republican frontrunners for President, despite Kennedy's assurance that a worm eating a chunk of his brain would have no detrimental side effects on his ability to run the country.

As it stands, there is hardly any chance Kennedy will become President and may not even see a debate stage, which simply makes the brain worm another bizarre factoid about what has been a bizarre Presidential run so far.

---

For the full history of RFK Jr.'s brain worm, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.