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RFK Jr. Blasted For Taking Grandkids To Swim In Sewage-Tainted Creek For Mother's Day

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The Health and Human Services secretary shared photos of his Mother's Day hike and swim in Washington, D.C., for Mother's Day—and was quickly criticized for putting his grandkids' health at risk.

Sunday was Mother’s Day in the United States, so many families gathered to pay tribute to the moms in their lives.

People marked the occasion by attending church services, going out for Sunday brunch, gathering for family dinners, and violating national park regulations to go swimming in sewage tainted waterways.


If that last one seems bizarre, dangerous, and unhealthy, then you didn't spend Mother’s Day with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his kids, daughter-in-law, and his grandkids.

@RobertKennedyJr/X

MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's head of public health shared his activities on X with a series of photos taken in the Washington D.C. area.

Kennedy wrote:

"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’s X post received a community context note stating:

"Swimming in Rock Creek is dangerous and prohibited by the National Park Service, as the creek contains dangerously high bacteria levels."

r/medicine/Reddit


r/medicine/Reddit

The people mentioned in his caption—"Bobby" and "Kick"—are RFK's namesake son RFK III and daughter Kathleen. "Amaryllis" is son Bobby's wife. "Jackson" is an as yet unidentifield male in the photos.

@RobertKennedyJr/X

Bobcat is a nickname for RFK III and Amaryllis' daughter Bobby, while Cassius is their son.

The photos show RFK Jr. fully immersed in the contaminated water, while his grandchildren Bobby and Cassius wade nearby.

@RobertKennedyJr/X

According to the National Park Service (NPS) page for Rock Creek Park:

"Swimming and wading are not allowed due to high bacteria levels. Stay out of the water to... keep you and your family (including pets!) safe from illness."
"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."
"All District waterways are subject to a swim ban—this means wading, too!"

Swimming and even wading has been illegal in most of Washington D.C.’s waterways since the 1970s due to contamination caused by the district’s aging sewer system.

@RobertKennedyJr/X

But RFK Jr. is unconcerned by bacteria, viruses, or other pathogens that might be in the water, because he doesn't believe they're harmful. According to his writings, RFK Jr. doesn't believe in germ theory.

Germ theory, developed in the 19th century due to scientific and medical advancements, posits illness and disease are caused by specific microorganisms, like bacteria and viruses.

Instead of believing in the harm caused by microorganisms, RFK Jr. still believes in "miasma" as the cause of illness and disease. Sometimes referred to as "bad humors," miasma theory—dating back to ancient history—attributed illness and disease to "bad air" or "miasmas" emanating from decaying matter.

Once microscopes were able to detect microorganisms and see their effects on and in the human body as well as the effects of antibiotics and vaccines on these pathogens, almost all of science and medicine stopped believing in the archaic, repeatedly disproven miasma theory.

It's now relegated to pseudoscience with theories like a flat earth, phrenology, and astrology.

In r/medicine, a "subReddit for medical professionals... a virtual lounge for physicians and other medical professionals from around the world to talk about the latest advances," user NoFlyingMonkeys shared the story.

They wrote:

"No wonder he feels cavalier about health dangers to the US population and [Healthcare Workers] - he puts his own grandchildren in danger."

r/medicine/Reddit

The Reddit user—who lists MD, PhD; Molecular Medicine & Pediatrics; University faculty in their bio—also added a list of some of RFK Jr.'s outrageous "infectious disease" (ID) claims and denials.

r/medicine/Reddit

Medical professionals don't have much respect or faith in the head of the United States' public health, if their responses to RFK Jr.'s Mother’s Day activities are any indication.

r/medicine/Reddit


r/medicine/Reddit


r/medicine/Reddit


r/medicine/Reddit


r/medicine/Reddit


r/medicine/Reddit


r/medicine/Reddit


r/medicine/Reddit

RFK Jr.'s nomination to head HHS was met with dissent from his family, friends, and members of the medical and scientific community.

At first believed to be just incompetent and completely unqualified, Kennedy’s response to a measles outbreak, misinformation about the measles vaccine, official directives and false claims about a nonexistent autism epidemic, and his ignorant comments about a variety of public health concerns have proven he's not just an ineffectual member of the Trump administration like the other members of Trump's cabinet and staff.

He's dangerous.

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