Did RFK Jr. claim a worm was removed from his brain and when did he say it?

1. What Kennedy actually said and where it appears on the record

In a 2012 deposition later reviewed and reported by major outlets, Kennedy described being told by a doctor that the abnormality seen on his scan was caused by a worm that “got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died,” language quoted directly in reporting by The New York Times and repeated by PBS and Reuters ^{[1] [4] [2]}. That deposition is the primary contemporaneous source for the claim; subsequent media stories and the campaign’s statements have relied on it to summarize Kennedy’s account ^[3].

2. Timing: when did he say it and when did it become public

Kennedy’s statement was made in the 2012 deposition, describing events around 2010 when he experienced memory loss and a scan showed a dark spot that some doctors initially treated as a tumor ^{[1] [4]}. The medical-history detail resurfaced in news coverage in May 2024 after The New York Times reviewed the deposition and other outlets promptly reported and the campaign issued a confirmation that the infection was over a decade old and that Kennedy had recovered ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

3. Did he claim the worm was “removed”?

Kennedy’s quoted account in the deposition and the reporting describe a doctor’s assessment that the scan abnormality was the calcified remains of a parasite — a “dead worm” — rather than a tumor; reporting does not describe a surgical extraction of a live worm but rather that the lesion was later identified as a parasitic cyst or calcified remains ^{[5] [1] [4]}. Media outlets and medical explainers characterize the finding as a dead or calcified parasite discovered on scans, not as a dramatic live worm physically removed in surgery ^{[5] [6]}.

4. How reporting and experts framed the clinical picture

Medical commentary published alongside the news coverage explains that brain parasites often present as cysts, calcifications or lesions on imaging and that the clinical course can include the parasite dying and leaving a calcified scar that explains an imaging abnormality and symptoms — which aligns with how Kennedy’s account is reported, and experts stress that such lesions are plausible though descriptions like “ate a portion of my brain” are shorthand rather than literal ongoing consumption ^{[4] [6]}. Several outlets note Kennedy also reported contemporaneous mercury poisoning and that symptoms like memory problems can have multiple causes, which his campaign says have been resolved ^{[7] [3]}.

5. The campaign response and public framing

After the deposition’s contents were published in 2024, Kennedy’s campaign confirmed he had contracted a parasite more than a decade earlier and asserted he is now in robust physical and mental health; Kennedy himself later made light of the episode in social posts and remarks to the press ^{[3] [2]}. Coverage varied from straight medical explanation to political framing about fitness for office, and outlets flagged both the factual deposition quote and the limitations of interpreting imaging findings retrospectively ^{[1] [4]}.

6. What the sources do and do not prove

The contemporaneous 2012 deposition and later reporting establish that Kennedy said a doctor believed the scan abnormality was caused by a worm and that the lesion was described as dead or calcified; reporting does not produce surgical records showing removal of a live worm nor does it show a modern pathology report in the public record confirming the specific parasite species ^{[1] [5]}. Medical voices quoted in coverage say the scenario described is medically plausible and consistent with known parasitic brain infections, but the public record in the stories is limited to Kennedy’s deposition, campaign confirmations, and expert interpretation of imaging findings ^{[6] [3]}.