Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s staff cut off a USA Today interview question about the grossest food he has ever eaten, moments after he admitted eating "stuff I find on the street."

"…I will literally eat anything… I don't have a gag reflex," Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Chambers. "When I travel, I'll eat, you know, even stuff I find on the street, you know, street vendors, cooking."

"Like, is there stuff that you've eaten that people are like, wow. You ate that," Chambers asked.

"You mean, like, something gross? Or?" Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replied.

"Yes. Maybe gross for others. Yeah. Not for you," Chambers said.

"I'm getting a signal not to answer that question," Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, shutting down the line of questioning.

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[–] 205 points 3 months ago (23 children)

Rfk Jr is insane but the title is waaaay out of context.

"you know, street vendors, cooking."

He'll eat from a food truck!

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  • [–] [S] 78 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (9 children)

    He was stopped by his staff before answering whether he'd eaten food found in trash cans. Kennedy has snorted cocaine from toilet seats so trash cans are a step up.

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  • [–] 35 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    he also likes to play with dead racoon penis as well. anything is possible with this guy.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    I read that the dead raccoon penis was about a special bone that they have, which is sought after in some circles, especially Moonshiners. It's used to somehow regulate the flow of the moonshine, and they prize their particular bone.

    Apparently, that's what he was after. Once it's explained, it still doesn't make any sense at all.

    He's just a weirdo among weirdos. THAT makes sense.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    It’s used to somehow regulate the flow of the moonshine, and they prize their particular bone.

    they place it on the output pipe of the still, it directs alcohol flow straight down. So would anything curved, but they had to make it weird. you can buy them off ebay.

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  • [–] 23 points 3 months ago* (5 children)

    Genuinely one of the smartest people I have ever met, a former professor with multiple doctorates, got his lunch every day by digging in the trash outside his building and piecing together a meal from half eaten leftovers. He'd microwave it to sterilize.

    He also once gave me a fairly nice designer shirt (not the logo kind, actually nice), which he picked up at the bus stop covered in vomit, took home, and cleaned.

    At one point, he walked into the lab with a clearly used bowl reeking of marijuana, said he found it in a trash can, and had us analyze the THC content and alkaloid ratios as an exercise, because he had a DEA license.

    Lived into his 90s, was a self-made multi-millionaire, and spent his money on funding his research. Also he was fanatical about proper reduce, reuse, recycle. And he would get very pissed if you skipped those first two and went straight to recycle.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    That's cool. Was he the Secretary of Health for the USA too?

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Nope.

    But for all of RFK jr.'s many faults, I don't consider eating roadkill or stuff out of the garbage to be counted among them. Matter of fact, I consider both to be examples of not wasting food, which is good.

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  • [–] 18 points 3 months ago (10 children)

    Maybe, but most people don’t have a gag reflex when eating food from street vendors.

    He’s saying people would normally gag on the stuff he’s eaten.

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  • [–] 11 points 3 months ago* (9 children)

    I've had stinky tofu from a street vendor, which is both a fairly normal food and absolutely something that might cause a person to gag.

    (As for the grossest thing I've eaten: one time, I found that beetles had infested my stash of buckwheat, so rather than letting them have it, I cooked it and skimmed them off when they floated to the top. I wouldn't do that again because I'm a vegetarian now...)

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Where from? If it's not Hunan (specifically Changsha) stinky tofu, it's not worth my time.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Sorry to disappoint you, but I was in Taiwan. It did smell so bad while the vendor was still out of sight that I thought my friend was pranking me by leading me to an open sewer or something.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Oh yeah, it still smells terrible but for some reason the Changsha variety (it's kind of fried and black) is delicious. They add some broth and chopped garlic and chili peppers on top.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    I have had Taiwanese coworkers, and I have tasted stinky tofu. As they pointed out, Westerners eat stinky cheese, so why be snooty? But I have to say my first experience of it was distressing.

    Natto, on the other hand, I managed to get used to fairly quickly.

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