Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pushed back against the suggestion that he allegedly consumed dog meat at a restaurant in Korea.
On Tuesday, Vanity Fair published an exclusive article titled “RFK Jr.’s Family Doesn’t Want Him to Run. Even They May Not Know His Darkest Secrets.”
The nearly 8,000-word article draws from interviews with Kennedy’s family members who have been critical of his bid for the White House. In April, several Kennedys, including some of the independent candidate’s siblings, joined President Joe Biden onstage for a public endorsement.
The Vanity Fair piece, which alleges sexual assault and portrays Kennedy as a womanizer, calls attention to “a shocking photograph” that the candidate allegedly texted to a friend last year. A shocking photograph. Blowback from a Trump meeting. Alleged sexual assault. The Kennedys have voiced support for Joe Biden, but certain aspects of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s character are only just now coming to light.
For VF, @joehagansays reports on the candidate’s dark… pic.twitter.com/lYsrkqk2c5
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) July 2, 2024
“In the photo RFK Jr. was posing, alongside an unidentified woman, with the barbecued remains of what appears to be a dog,” the outlet writes. “Kennedy told the person, who was traveling to Asia, that he might enjoy a restaurant in Korea that served dog on the menu, suggesting Kennedy had sampled dog.”
Vanity Fair notes that the digital file’s metadata indicates the photo was taken in 2010 – “the same year he was diagnosed with a dead tapeworm in his brain," the outlet writes.
In a parenthetical, the outlet says that a “veterinarian who examined the photograph says the carcass is a canine, pointing to the 13 pairs of ribs, which include the tell-tale ‘floating rib’ found in dogs.”
According to a 2017 fact sheet on the anatomy and physiology of goats published by the Department of Primary Indistries in New South Wales, most of goats’ ribs are “fixed – that is, they are joined to the sternum (breastbone) at the front of the chest – but the last two pairs are not attached at the front and are called floating ribs.”
Vanity Fair continued:The picture’s intent seems to have been comedic—Kennedy and his companion are pantomiming—but for the recipient it was disturbing evidence of Kennedy’s poor judgment and thoughtlessness, simultaneously mocking Korean culture, reveling in animal cruelty, and needlessly risking his reputation and that of his family.
Kennedy responded to the suggestion in an X post.
“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.”
Kennedy added: “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.” 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. Keep telling America that up is down if you want. I’ll keep talking about… pic.twitter.com/SGX3QpoaRZ
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) July 2, 2024
When SCNR reached out to Kennedy’s campaign for further comment, the press team referred to the candidate’s X post.