RFK Jr. Responds to Report That He Ate a Dog

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to accusations of eating a dog with an email blast on Friday, claiming the allegations are distracting from “the real issue at hand.”

With an election cycle filled with back-and-forth swings at each candidate’s character, the latest claim came from a Vanity Fair article published earlier this week. It suggested Kennedy Jr. once ate a dog.

Kennedy Jr.’s team sent an email Friday night to halt the dog-eating rumors.

“No, RFK Jr. Doesn’t Eat Dogs,” the subject line reads, while the heading states: “They will stop at nothing to smear his character and divert attention from the real issue at hand.”

The email calls the Vanity Fair article a “hit piece” from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to “distract from his policies and achievements.”

His team also pointed out the suspicious timing of the article, stating it was published only days after President Biden’s disastrous debate against former President Donald Trump.

Coming after his character is the DNC’s way to keep President Biden ahead of Kennedy Jr. in this “razor-thin election,” the email alluded. The email states that the last thing the democratic party wants to see is Kennedy Jr. on the November 5 ballot.

The Context

The photo posted in the Vanity Fair article shows Kennedy Jr. posing with an unnamed woman and a cooked animal carcass.

Kennedy Jr. sent the photo to a friend, who was traveling to Asia, suggesting he might enjoy eating at a restaurant in Seoul with dogs included on the menu, according to the article.

The publication’s analysis of the photo’s metadata suggested it was taken in 2010. Vanity Fair also consulted a veterinarian who said the carcass in the photo appeared to be a dog’s. Kennedy, however, says it’s a goat. While chicken may be the U.S.’ most consumed meat, “63 percent of the world’s population eats goat meat”, says UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Food Blog.

The Kennedy Jr.’s team previously directed Newsweek to a tweet denying the claim when asked for comment.

“Hey@VanityFair, you know when your veterinary experts call a goat a dog, and your forensic experts say a photo taken in Patagonia was taken in Korea, that you’ve joined the ranks of supermarket tabloids,” he said on X. Patagonia is a “distinct geographical region at the base of South America spanning the lower sections of Argentina and Chile”, according to Quasar Expeditions.

“Keep telling America that up is down if you want. I’ll keep talking about the fact that working families can’t afford houses or groceries because our last two presidents went on a $14 trillion debt joyride, paid for by hard-working Americans. The DNC media’s garbage pail journalism may distract us from President Biden’s cognitive deficits but it does little to elevate the national debate or reduce the price of groceries.

The Vanity Fair article also included information about sexual assault accusations against the independent candidate.

Eliza Cooney, a former babysitter for the Kennedys, detailed the incidents in her diary, sharing with the publication that she felt Kennedy Jr.’s hand touching her leg while at a family meeting in their home.

She claims Kennedy Jr. also was in a room with Cooney shirtless, asking her to rub lotion on his back. Another incident Cooney explains in the article is that he came up behind and “began groping her.”

When asked about the allegation, Kennedy told a Breaking Points podcast on Tuesday, “I am not a church boy.”

“I had a very, very rambunctious youth,” he told podcaster Saagar Enjeti. “I said in my announcement speech that I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world.”

When pressed further on the allegations, Kennedy responded that he wouldn’t comment on it.