RFK Jr. posts photos swimming with his family in DC’s Rock Creek despite warnings of high bacteria

By Shania Shelton, CNN

(CNN) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted photos Sunday of him and his family swimming in Rock Creek where swimming is not allowed “due to high bacteria levels.”

“Mother’s Day hike in Dumbarton Oaks Park with Amaryllis, Bobby, Kick, and Jackson, and a swim with my grandchildren, Bobcat and Cassius in Rock Creek,” Kennedy wrote in a post on X alongside photos including one where Kennedy is completely submerged in the water and others of the secretary playing and posing with his family.

Kennedy’s photos sparked backlash as the National Park Service does not allow swimming or wading in the park due to its dangerous waters, creating another moment of criticism and scrutiny for President Donald Trump’s controversial HHS secretary, the nation’s top health official.

“Rock Creek has high levels of bacteria and other infectious pathogens that make swimming, wading, and other contact with the water a hazard to human (and pet) health. Please protect yourself and your pooches by staying on trails and out of the creek,” an advisory on NPS’ website reads.

CNN has reached out to HHS and the National Park Service for comment.

The post is the latest in a series of scrutinized actions for Kennedy who made headlines last year after he said in a social media video that he drove a dead bear cub carcass from upstate New York and placed it in New York City’s Central Park 10 years ago.

The secretary has been vocal over the past year about medical issues he’s faced, including experiencing “brain fog” and “having trouble with word retrieval and short-term memory” after a parasitic worm entered his brain and then died in 2010.

Additionally, he detailed his experience with a bout of mercury poisoning, in which he said tests showed his blood containing “sky high” levels of mercury, and said he underwent chelation therapy to remove the metals from the body. Kennedy has said he has recovered fully from these health incidents.

Kennedy has also been one of the nation’s most prominent anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists for years and has frequently spread false theories about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

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