US health chief RFK Jnr takes family swimming in sewer run-off tainted creek

US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jnr celebrated Mother’s Day with his family by swimming in a contaminated Washington creek used for sewer run-off.

“Mother’s Day hike in Dumbarton Oaks Park with Amaryllis, Bobby, Kick, and Jackson, and a swim with my grandchildren, Bobcat and Cassius in Rock Creek,” Kennedy captioned an online photo putting him at the scene of the grime.

The United States’ National Park Service explicitly warns that Rock Creek is not safe for humans or animals.

“Rock Creek has high levels of bacteria and other infectious pathogens that make swimming, wading and other contact with the water a hazard to human (and pet) health,” the park’s department states on its website.

Swimming in Washington’s rivers and streams has been banned since 1971 due to “high amounts of faecal bacteria from combined sewer overflows”. Signs at Rock Creek Park specifically tell visitors to stay out of the water to prevent illness.

Kennedy’s decision-making skills have been called into question, even by members of his own family.