Kerry Kennedy, sister of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., shared an extraordinary story on Monday that culminated with her brother releasing a "chomping" snake into a swimming pool filled with children. She used the anecdote to argue why he should not hold his current position.
Background of the Interview
CNN's Erin Burnett asked Kerry Kennedy, who has previously called for her anti-vaccine sibling to resign from his Cabinet role, about her brother's "fascination with animals." This referenced past viral stories involving snakes, a dead bear, roadkill, and more.
Kennedy said she was "so grateful to Bobby, as my older brother" for sharing "his fascination of nature" when they were young, "but there was another side, there was always another side."
The Birthday Party Incident
Kennedy recalled a wild moment at her now-adult daughter's 4th birthday party:
"We were having a little birthday party. I was looking in the garden and I found a snake, so I called Bobby. He just lived a mile down the road, and I said, 'There’s a snake in the garden.' He rushed over with his infant son, Aidan, in one hand, who was just a few months old and a pillow case in the other. And he grabbed this snake and stuffed it into the pillowcase while he was holding his infant son. So, that was a little scary."
She continued: "And then he walked up to where the rest of the birthday party was, and he reached into the bag. And this snake was just chomping on his hand, and he pulled out the snake to show the kids. Then there was a vole [...] and he grabbed that with his hand and he put it into the bag with the snake, which made all the kids scream because now they were afraid the snake would eat the vole. So then he shoved his hand back into the pillowcase and grabbed the snake, which chomped on him a few more times."
Kennedy said they all decamped to her brother's house, where "there were tons of kids in the swimming pool" and "he released this snake that had chomped on his hand into the swimming pool."
Reaction and Implications
Burnett could barely contain her astonishment at the story. Kennedy, however, used it to explain why her brother "has a lack of judgment when it comes to the safety and care of children."
"Is this the person who you want running HHS? Who’s got this lack of judgment when it comes to health and safety. And I think we’ve got somebody who’s been consistent about these things throughout his life," she added.
The interview was shared on social media, with Burnett posting: "Kerry Kennedy tells Erin her brother, RFK Jr. once captured a snake while holding his infant child, showed it to kids at a birthday party 'chomping on his hand,' and then released the snake into a swimming pool filled with children."
