On Sunday, Robert Kennedy Jr., Trump’s health and human services secretary, shared photos on his X page of him and his family swimming in DC’s Rock Creek, where swimming is prohibited due to high bacteria levels. RFK Jr.’s post quickly sparked backlash. Swimming or wading in the park is prohibited by the National Park Service due to the dangerous levels of bacteria in the water there. The images brought quick criticism of the nation’s top health official.
RFK Jr. Shares Images On X
“Mother’s Day hike in Dumbarton Oaks Park with Amaryllis, Bobby, Kick, and Jackson, and a swim with my grandchildren, Bobcat and Cassius, in Rock Creek,” Kennedy wrote in his post, where he shared photos of the family at the park.
According to the NPS website, “Rock Creek has high levels of bacteria and other infectious pathogens that make swimming, wading, and other contact with the water a hazard to human (and pet) health. Please protect yourself and your pooches by staying on trails and out of the creek.”
Experts Weigh In
After the photos were posted, a couple of health experts chimed in. “One of the most common bacteria that has been found in Rock Creek and in, really, any bodies of water that may have sewage contamination, chances are they’re going to have E. coli,” said pediatric critical care doctor Anita Patel
Infectious disease epidemiologist Jessica Malaty Rivera added, “The creek has had a historically high level of E. coli in the water, and that E. coli, as we know, can cause very severe illness in humans and even in pets.”
“It’s the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] themselves who are the ones that have measured the types of colonies of bacteria in this and have said it exceeds any safe values that would allow people to wade in it,” Malaty Rivera added.
Other RFK Jr. Controversies
This is just one in a series of controversies surrounding RFK Jr. Last year, he shared a video on social media where he shared that he had driven a dead bear cub carcass from upstate New York to New York City’s Central Park ten years ago. He claims the driver in front of him had hit the bear.
RFK Jr. claimed his plan was to skin the bear, but something came up, and he decided to leave it in the park instead. In his most famous claim, RFK Jr. says he suffers from brain fog and often has trouble with short-term memory because a parasitic worm got into his brain and later died there.
RFK Jr. also claimed that he experienced a bout of “sky- high” mercury poisoning. He says that he underwent chelation therapy to help remove the metal from his body. He says he made a full recovery from both health episodes. RFK Jr. is also well-known for being a conspiracy theorist. He has repeatedly spread falsehoods about vaccines. RFK Jr. has not yet responded to this controversy.
