Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed in a years-old deposition that doctors told him a parasitic worm had eaten part of his brain before dying in his skull, according to a Tuesday report from the New York Times.

Kennedy made the claim during a deposition that took place as part of his 2012 divorce proceedings. He said he had been experiencing “cognitive problems” and feared he was suffering from a brain tumor.

RFK was scheduled to undergo surgery at the Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina when he got a second opinion. The second doctor stated that the shadow inside his brain on scans was in fact a dead parasite, likely a pork tapeworm larva.

According to a transcription of the interview, Kennedy stated that his condition “was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died,” according to the Times.

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“I have cognitive problems, clearly,” RFK said at the time. “I have short-term memory loss, and I have longer-term memory loss that affects me.”

The independent presidential candidate was also diagnosed with mercury poisoning around the same time, which one doctor told the Times was likely the true cause behind RFK’s severe “brain fog.”

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The mercury poisoning arose from a heavy diet of fish, namely tuna sandwiches.

(Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has highlighted his physical fitness in contrast to former President Trump and President Biden.)

RFK’s campaign told the Times he made a full recovery from the brain fog and other symptoms after changing his diet, and he had no aftereffects from the parasite.

When asked whether the history called into question his mental ability, a spokeswoman for the campaign told the outlet, “That is a hilarious suggestion, given the competition.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has sought to establish that he is far more physically healthy than both former President Trump, left, and President Biden. (Getty Images)

RFK has highlighted his own physical fitness in contrast with President Biden and former President Trump. The 70-year-old frequently appears on social media being active at the gym and elsewhere.

After steering clear of the divisive issue for months, the Supreme Court may be on the verge of deciding whether to jump into the national debate over medical treatment for transgender youths.

As soon as Thursday, justices may vote behind closed doors on whether to grant an appeal that seeks to block a new Tennessee law prohibiting medical treatments that enable a “minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex.”

They have been in no hurry to act, however, and it’s possible they will put off the issue again. For weeks, they have repeatedly delayed a vote on the case, likely reflecting a division — either between liberals and conservatives, or perhaps inside the conservative majority.

At stake is the fate of a wave of a new state laws in the South and Midwest that bar transgender teens and their parents from obtaining puberty blockers and other hormones prescribed by a doctor.

Some 24 conservative states have passed restrictions on treatment for transgender youth, potentially affecting about 114,000 minors, or more than a third of transgender youths in the United States, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA Law School. Many of those state laws have been blocked temporarily by judges.

If the court turns down the Tennessee appeal and says nothing more, it could signal that treatment bans for transgender youth are likely to take effect in about half of the nation. Then the map of the states would largely match the red state-blue state divide on abortion.

If justices agree to hear the appeal, it could put the issue on track for arguments later this year.

Progressive advocates for transgender youth are looking to the Supreme Court for help.

“This is a crisis and the only court that can weigh in to remedy it is the Supreme Court,” said Chase Strangio, the ACLU’s deputy director for transgender justice. “This is wreaking havoc with families who have to leave their homes to protect their children.”

The ACLU and Lambda Legal sued to challenge the Tennessee law on behalf of three transgender adolescents and their parents who had been obtaining hormones from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

A federal judge initially blocked the new law. But in July, the Ohio-based 6th Circuit Court in a 2-1 decision became the first appeals court to rule such a law may go into effect.

The state’s lawmakers had questioned the safety and effectiveness of hormone treatments for teens, and 6th Circuit Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton said that “states may reasonably exercise caution in these circumstances.”

Biden administration Solicitor Gen. Elizabeth Prelogar said the state laws impose “a categorical ban on evidence-based treatments supported by the overwhelming consensus of the medical community.”

The high court’s “intervention is warranted now,” she said.

Conservative skepticism toward “gender affirming care” was bolstered by a recent report prepared for the National Health Service in England. Dr. Hilary Cass, who led the four-year review, called for caution in treating young people who have gender distress.

“This is an area of remarkably weak evidence,” she wrote. “The reality is that we have no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of interventions to manage gender-related distress.”

So far, the justices have avoided a clear ruling on the rights of transgender students. When pressed, they have handed down narrow decisions.

Last year, they turned down an emergency appeal from West Virginia’s attorney general and allowed a 12-year-old transgender girl to compete on the girls’ track team at her middle school. The court issued no opinion, but Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented.

Last month, the court handed down a procedural decision that allowed Idaho’s law to take effect restricting care for transgender youths, but not for the children and parents who sued to challenge it.

The court’s majority in the Idaho case focused on the question of whether a federal judge has the power to block an entire state law if two people sue over one provision. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented and said the state’s appeal should have been denied.

The conservative judges may be divided among themselves on rights for transgender students.

Four years ago, the court surprised many on the right when it ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids employers from discriminating against workers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., said that because the law forbids job discrimination on the basis of sex, it must be read to include discrimination against LGBTQ+ employees.

“An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex,” Gorsuch wrote in the case of Bostock vs. Clayton County.

Three conservatives dissented from that opinion, and the court has yet to rule on whether this anti-discrimination principle extends to the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws.

That legal question is at the heart of the appeals now before the court. The ACLU, Lambda Legal and the Biden administration argue that a law “targeting transgender individuals for disfavored treatment” is a form of sex discrimination and should be struck down as unconstitutional.

They also raise the issue of parents’ rights. The laws in Tennessee, Kentucky and elsewhere should be struck down because they “violate the fundamental right of parents to make decisions concerning the medical care of their children,” they told the court.

Samantha Williams and her husband, Brian, had sued in Nashville on behalf of their daughter, who was identified as L.W.

“It’s hard to overstate the difference that our daughter’s medical treatment has made in her life and our family’s life,” Samantha Williams said when the appeal went to the Supreme Court.

“Before coming out and starting to receive this medical care she struggled to make friends, keep her grades up, or even accept hugs from her family. Now, we have a confident, happy daughter who is free to be herself. I want the Justices to see and understand my daughter and recognize her rights under the Constitution like any other person, and to see that if parents like me don’t have the right to determine what’s best for our children, then no parent does,” she said.

In defense of his state’s law, Tennessee’s Atty. Gen. Jonathan Skrmetti described it as a measure “to protect children from unproven medical interventions.”

He said the number of minors receiving gender dysphoria diagnoses has “exploded” in recent years, and states have “seen a corresponding surge in unproven and risky medical interventions for these underage patients.”

He said state lawmakers had “reasonably concluded that the well-documented risks of cross-sex hormones outweigh any purported benefits” and that “minors lack the maturity to fully understand and appreciate the life-altering consequences of such procedures.”

But the American Academy of Pediatrics, joined by21 other medical and mental health organizations, fileda friend-of-court brief atthe Supreme Court to dispute Tennessee’s contention that the hormone treatments are experimental or ineffective.

About 1.4 million persons in the United States are transgender, they said, and about about 10% of them are teenagers ages 13 to 17. They said “research shows that adolescents with gender dysphoria who receive puberty blockers or hormone therapy experience less depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. … Banning such care can put patients’ lives at risk.”

While the state law also forbids surgical interventions for minors, those provisions are not being challenged in the cases under appeal.

At the 6th Circuit Court, the key question was who should decide on care of minors: parents and their doctors, state legislators, or federal judges.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has his head in the clouds – at least that’s the case with a new video he posted to tout what he says are “record-breaking tourism numbers” in the state.

In the video, Newsom appears to be suspended high in the air above the Golden Gate Bridge, leading some online to speculate if Newsom is, in fact, Spider-Man. While others were quick to point out the many issues plaguing California, like crime, homelessness and sky-high prices.

Newsom began the video with, “So, I’m up here on the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. A testament to America’s greatness … California’s greatness and we couldn’t be more proud.”

He continued, “Over $150 billion of tourism spent, unprecedented in our state’s history. If you haven’t had the chance to see the magnificence, the beauty of our great state, it’s time to visit California.”

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Critics quickly took to X to share their reaction to the governor’s video.

“Is the @CAgovernor also Spider-Man?” one person asked.

“You are calling the millions of illegals invading California tourists?” one user wrote.

“Weird way to celebrate inflation, but do you bud,” another user wrote.

“Meanwhile, CA residency just hit an all time low. People can’t leave CA fast enough,” another comment read.

“Having illegals cross your border by the thousands doesn’t count as ‘Tourism’….,” another user commented.

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On Sunday, Newsom’s office released new data that showed California continues to have the largest market share of tourism in the nation, with travel spending in the state reaching an all-time record high of $150.4 billion last year, which surpassed the previous record $144.9 billion spent in 2019.

“From our world-renowned coastline, to the world’s tallest trees, to our iconic cities and theme parks, California is the nation’s coming attraction. Visitors from all over the world are coming here to experience the wonder of the Golden State, boosting our economy and creating good-paying jobs for years to come,” Newsom said.

California Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones disagreed with Newsom’s math.

“Newsom touts a record-breaking $150.4 billion in tourism spending for 2023, supposedly surpassing the pre-pandemic figure of $144.9 billion in 2019. However, when adjusted for inflation, tourism spending would have to be a staggering $173 billion to beat the 2019 number,” Jones told Fox News Digital.

“Of course, everything costs more in California thanks to ‘Gavinomics,’ and of course, his statistics don’t take that into account. It’s more smoke and mirrors as usual with this governor. Rather than chasing headlines with deceiving statistics, he should spend some time actually fixing California and our multiple crises like homelessness, affordability and crime.” — California Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones

Jones said everything costs more in California thanks to “Gavinomics.”

“It’s more smoke and mirrors as usual with this governor. Rather than chasing headlines with deceiving statistics, he should spend some time actually fixing California and our multiple crises like homelessness, affordability and crime,” Jones said.

California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher shared a similar sentiment.

“These numbers are as phony as Gavin’s baseball career – when you factor in inflation (like normal people have to), tourism is down 14% on his watch. Crime and homelessness have become the California brand, and no amount of spin from Newsom will change that,” Gallagher told Fox News Digital in a statement.

In the state’s new data, Visit California CEO Caroline Beteta said California tourism is back where it belongs and is setting records and providing for the workers, business owners and all Californians who depend on the travel industry as a cornerstone of the state’s economy.

“The industry has once again proved its ability to recover from any challenge, whether it be economic or environmental. California continues to be the largest, most diverse and most resilient tourism economy in the United States,” Beteta said.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom said California has experienced record-breaking tourism numbers as the state struggles with a number of issues, including rampant crime and homelessness. (Tayfun Coskun)

According to Visit California, the new travel spending record generated $12.7 billion in state and local tax revenue by visitors in 2023, marking a 3% increase over 2019. However, tourists spent $37.7 billion in the Bay Area in 2023, down slightly from $39 billion spent in 2019.

“It would be great if the governor put as much energy into improving California as he does into taking unearned victory laps with misleading statistics. Maybe then we’d actually break a record,” Gallagher added.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom was accused of touting tourism numbers that don’t account for inflation. (California Governor Gavin Newsom YouTube channel)

The state statistics also showed that tourism created 64,900 new jobs in 2023, bringing total industry employment to 1,155,000.

In addition to visiting the state, more people are moving to California, according to Newsom, who also said the state’s population is increasing for the first time since the pandemic.

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office for comment but has not yet heard back.