About

RFK Jr.'s Brain Worm refers to a series of jokes and memes about a dead parasite that was discovered in United States presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s brain in 2010. The story about the parasite, told by Kennedy in a 2012 deposition, resurfaced online after a May 2024 article by The New York Times and went viral on social media.

Origin

On May 8th, 2024, The New York Times^[1] published an article about a dead parasite that was discovered in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s brain in 2010.

In a 2012 deposition reviewed by The New York Times, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK) said that in 2010 he experienced memory loss and mental fogginess and consulted top neurosurgeons over concerns of developing a brain tumor. The brain scans revealed a dark spot in Kennedy's brain, which turned out to be a cyst formed around a dead brain parasite that "ate a portion of [his brain] and died."

In the 2012 deposition, Kennedy said that he had cognitive problems such as short-term and long-term memory loss. In an interview with The Times, Kennedy said that he had since recovered from these symptoms and had no aftereffects from the parasite.

On May 8th, 2024, multiple users on X / Twitter made posts about RFK Jr.'s diagnosis, with the news spreading on the platform. For example, X^[2] user @whstancilp posted a snippet of The New York Times article on the 8th that received over 1,700 reposts and 11,000 likes in one day (shown below, left).

Also that day, X^[3] user @hannahcrileyy also shared the snippet, commenting, "sorry but if worms had eaten part of my brain you couldn’t waterboard that information out of me". The post (shown below, right) garnered over 120 reposts and 1,600 likes in one day.

Spread

The news became a viral subject of jokes and memes online in the following days, with multiple posts going viral. For example, on May 8th, 2024, X^[4] user @TheAndrewNadeau made a post that received over 910 reposts and 17,000 likes in one day (shown below, left).

Also on May 8th, X^[5] user @MortytheRN posted an image of MSN Earthworm captioned, "the moment the worm gets to RFK's brain and realizes he is going to starve." The post (shown below, right) received over 440 reposts and 8,300 likes in one day.

Later on May 8th, 2024, Vanity Fair posted a response from RFK Jr's campaign, which said the worm "will not affect his ability to serve as president" on X.^[6] The post was followed by more jokes and memes shortly after.

For example, on May 9th, X^[7] user @CantEverDie posted a Dracula Flow clip captioned, "RFK JR day 1 presidency after the worms take back over." The post (shown below) gained over 1,800 reposts and 16,000 likes in one day.

RFK JR day 1 presidency after the worms take back over: https://t.co/aFTwT6I6G7 pic.twitter.com/vJdzBcmsYn

— beer person (@CantEverDie) May 9, 2024

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References