RFK Jr. said in 2012 that he thought a worm ate part of his brain: 'I have cognitive problems, clearly'

• Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a 2012 deposition he has a worm in his brain.
• A major tenant of Kennedy's long shot campaign has been on his health compared to Trump and Biden.
• The New York Times reported he's also been hospitalized four times for atrial fibrillation.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a decade-old deposition that he believed he had a dead worm in his brain.

First reported by The New York Times on Wednesday, Kennedy brought up the worm in a 2012 deposition during his divorce proceeding with his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy.

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

He also noted in the deposition, the Times reported, that he had been diagnosed with mercury poisoning around the same time. Mercury poisoning can also cause neurological problems.

The issues from both ailments, he argued at the time of his divorce, impacted his ability to earn money.

He recently told the Times that he's no longer having memory issues.

In the deposition, Kennedy said he visited several neurologists in 2010 to try to find the cause of his haziness. While some doctors believed he had a brain tumor, one thought he had a worm stuck in his brain.

Kennedy said the doctor told him his brain scan didn't show a tumor, instead saying the dark spot "was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died."

Kennedy's brain and mercury problems weren't the only health issues he's had over the years: As the Times noted, he's been hospitalized on four occasions for atrial fibrillation, a condition where the heart beats quickly and out of rhythm. In the 2012 deposition, Kennedy said that he once had to have his heart shocked by doctors to get it to beat back in sync.

The Times report on Kennedy's health troubles is a contrast to how he portrays himself in his long shot bid for the White House. The 70-year-old has positioned himself as a more physically and mentally fit candidate than 81-year-old President Joe Biden and 77-year-old former President Donald Trump. He even recorded a shirtless outdoor workout.

"Mr. Kennedy traveled extensively in Africa, South America, and Asia in his work as an environmental advocate, and in one of those locations contracted a parasite," Kennedy campaign press secretary Stefanie Spear told Business Insider. "The issue was resolved more than 10 years ago, and he is in robust physical and mental health. Questioning Mr. Kennedy's health is a hilarious suggestion, given his competition."

Kennedy hasn't polled high enough to be a significant threat to topple Biden or Trump and take the job himself, but he has siphoned enough support to hurt their campaigns in swing states.

Several of Kennedy's backers have an inordinate amount of power and wealth, like billionaire Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, and PayPal founding executive David Sacks.