Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing backlash after a photo surfaced allegedly showing him eating a barbecued dog. The 2010 image, obtained by Vanity Fair, depicts Kennedy holding an animal carcass with a metal stake through it, seemingly about to take a bite. The photo was allegedly texted to a friend last year.
Kennedy denies allegations
According to Vanity Fair, Kennedy told the friend, who was traveling to Asia, about a restaurant in Korea that served dog, implying he had tried it. A veterinarian identified the carcass as a dog based on its ribs. However, Kennedy dismissed the claims as “a lot of garbage.”
“The picture they said is of me eating a dog is actually me eating a goat in Patagonia on a whitewater trip many years ago on the Futaleufu River,” Kennedy told the Breaking Points political podcast. He further criticized the report, saying, “They have an expert that identified it as a dog carcass. It’s just not true.”
Social media response
Kennedy took to X (formerly Twitter) to address Vanity Fair directly. “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 wrote. “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.”
Impact on campaign
The third-party candidate, a thorn in the sides of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, could siphon critical votes as Biden and Trump run a close race. Kennedy, nephew of America’s 35th President John F. Kennedy, left the Democratic Party last year to run for the White House as an independent. “The truth is, they’re both right,” Kennedy said of the Biden and Trump camps. “My intention is to spoil it for both of them.”
In his podcast, Kennedy claimed Vanity Fair was “recycling 30-year-old stories” and that he wouldn’t comment on the details. “I’ve said this from the beginning. I am not a church boy. I am not running like that. I had a very, very rambunctious youth,” he said. “I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world.”
Previous controversies
The photo emerged months after South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem admitted to shooting a dog she called “untrainable” and “worthless,” a revelation that affected her potential vice presidential candidacy for Trump.