GOP Rep Cracks Incredibly Crass RFK Jr. Kennedy Assassination Joke

If Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) began the month of May trying to set a new standard for tasteless tweets from a sitting member of Congress, he’s off to a great start, thanks in part to a post Wednesday alluding to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Robert F. Kennedy five years later.

Last week, the congressman dished out—and later walked back—praise for mostly white Ole Miss students who jeered at a lone Black pro-Palestine protester. Despite how one such student, who has since been expelled from his fraternity, was clearly seen making primate noises and mannerisms at the protester, Collins wrote, “Ole Miss taking care of business.”

On Wednesday, Collins felt compelled to weigh in on how independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was told by a doctor that he had a dead parasite in his brain, The New York Times reported, citing Kennedy’s comments during a 2012 deposition that was part of his divorce proceedings.

In a post that had been viewed nearly 5 million times by Wednesday night, Collins wrote, “You either die a Kennedy with a hole in the brain or live long enough to become a Kennedy with a hole in the brain.”

Those who objected to the freshman GOP congressman’s post included Fred Guttenberg, the father of Parkland school shooting victim Jaime Guttenberg and a gun control advocate, The Wire creator David Simon, and Collins’ colleague, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), whose response alluded in part to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem admitting that she shot and killed her 14-month old puppy in a gravel pit because it misbehaved.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the party that shoots dogs and assaults women has now decided to defile the name of President John F. Kennedy and mock his assassination to get cheap attention on the internet,” McGovern wrote. “What kind of messed up person even says this kind of shit?”

Though Kennedy hasn’t responded publicly to Collins’ post, he did seem to poke fun at the report about his brief medical scare.

“I offer to eat 5 more brain worms and still beat President Trump and President Biden in a debate,” he wrote, adding in a follow-up post: “I feel confident of the result even with a six-worm handicap.”

Kennedy, who insists his longshot campaign is not a “spoiler” to President Joe Biden after a since-fired New York campaign official admitted that was her goal, has seen many of his family members endorse the incumbent.

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