Biography Reveals RFK Jr.'s Roadkill Raccoon Incident

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. once removed the sex organs from a roadkill raccoon along Interstate 684 in New York while traveling with his family, according to a new biography that cites entries from his personal diaries.

The incident, detailed in the book "RFK Jr.: The Fall and Rise" by journalist Isabel Vincent, occurred in 2001. In a diary entry quoted in the biography, Kennedy wrote, "I was standing in front of my parked car on I684 cutting the penis out of a road killed raccoon, thinking about how weird some of my family members have turned out to be." The entry continued, "My kids waited patiently in the car." Vincent, who obtained the diaries from Kennedy's late wife, Mary Kennedy, told People magazine that he collected the organs for later study, reflecting his childhood aspiration to become a veterinarian. Kennedy had worked after school at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and maintained a strong interest in animals, including keeping roadkill in his freezer for examination.

This account adds to a series of unusual interactions with animal remains that Kennedy has described over the years. In 2024, while running for president, he...