Robert F Kennedy Jr discloses he’s being investigated for collecting whale specimen 20 years ago

GLENDALE, ARIZONA: You know how some stories just stick to people, no matter how much time has passed? Well, Robert F. Kennedy Jr is back in the headlines for yet another bizarre incident.

This time it involves a whale specimen that he collected 20 years ago.

The whale investigation nobody saw coming

It all came to light on Saturday, September 14, during a campaign event in Glendale, Arizona, where Robert F Kennedy Jr was stumping for former president Donald Trump.

Kennedy casually dropped a bombshell while addressing the crowd: "I received a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Institute saying that they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago."

Apparently, the letter just arrived "this week" and Kennedy had a few thoughts on the matter. "This is all about the weaponization of our government against political opponents," he proclaimed.

But this isn't just any government agency—it's the National Marine Fisheries Service we're talking about. Not exactly the FBI, but Kennedy Jr seems convinced there's a bigger agenda at play here.

He didn't go into detail about how this whale incident went down, but his daughter, Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy, spilled some serious tea years ago that might shed light on this whole thing.

Back in 2012, Kathleen shared a wild story in Town & Country magazine about a family road trip. She was only six years old at the time, but it turns out, her father decided to decapitate a dead whale that had washed ashore. Because, why not?

"Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet," Kathleen told the magazine at the time.

"We all had plastic bags over our heads with mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were giving us the finger, but that was just normal day-to-day stuff for us."

Robert F Kennedy Jr's response to whale specimen investigation

Now, fast forward to 2024: The media, of course, has latched onto this whale story like barnacles on a ship.

When reporters asked Robert F Kennedy Jr for more details after his campaign event, he was quick to shut them down.

"I’m not going to talk about the incident," he said. According to him, the media's just out to dig up "gossipy nonsense," and he's not here for it.

He’s more interested in "serious policy issues", thank you very much.

But Kennedy's troubles may be far from over. The 2012 story resurfaced recently and some environmental groups aren't too happy about it.

Brett Hartl, political director for the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, didn't mince words.

"Kennedy may think that his name and privilege mean the rules don’t apply to him, but if he had a shred of integrity left he’d surrender this whale skull and any other illegally collected wildlife parts to the authorities," Hartl said in a news release.

"If he doesn’t, NOAA law enforcement should open an investigation and potentially bring charges against him."

If the whale incident wasn't enough to raise eyebrows, Kennedy has a history of unusual wildlife encounters.

Just last month, he received flak for admitting that he once left a dead bear cub in Central Park. Apparently, he had plans to skin the bear for meat but decided last-minute to dump the cub and make it look like the poor thing got hit by a bike. 

"I thought it would be amusing for whoever found it," Kennedy mused in a video.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation wasn’t amused, though. They made it clear that disposing of a dead bear like that was illegal, though Kennedy Jr dodged a bullet with the statute of limitations, NBC News reported.

Internet reacts to Robert F Kennedy Jr being investigated for whale specimen

As you'd expect, social media went wild after news broke about Robert F Kennedy Jr's whale specimen investigation.

"JFC! Can this guy leave dead animals alone already?" one posted on X.

"That's an elaborate way of saying 'I've been using my family's influence to avoid legal accountability my whole life but now that I'm becoming more trouble than I'm worth it's finally catching up with me,'" another chimed in.

"Seriously, RFK who has both dead bear and dead whale situations. you’re a genius. So glad Trump has you on his team," a third user remarked.

"I didn’t even know we had whales here and rfk jr found them & killed them?" read a comment.

"Between the bear and the whale RFK puts any Haitian to shame if we count by pounds of biomass taken," someone else offered.

"How is RFK Jr. a real person? I hate hearing this man’s lore," another fumed.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.