RFK Jr. responds to snake-handling critics with new video showing him wrangling a venomous rattlesnake
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted a new snake-handling video on Wednesday after social media users voiced concerns over his previous encounter with reptiles.
The latest Instagram video, captioned "In response to the many comments about venomous snakes, this video shows how Cheryl and I handled a recent rattlesnake rescue," shows Kennedy Jr. responding to a snake sighting at his home.
"When I got home, my wife said there was a snake in the driveway," Kennedy Jr. explained in the video. "Hold on, guys. I'll be back in a flash," he said before grabbing a bucket and net to investigate.
In the clip, Kennedy Jr. carefully approaches a rattlesnake, noting its identifying features. "His fangs are in there. I don't want to touch them," he said while positioning the reptile in the bucket. "This is a beautiful snake. This is a Western Diamondback. You can tell by these rings at the end of his tail."
Kennedy Jr. later had his wife bring a pillowcase for safely relocating the venomous snake back to its habitat.
The post appears to address criticism following Kennedy Jr.'s Tuesday video showing him handling two black racer snakes bare-handed on Dr. Mehmet Oz's patio. In that footage, actor Cheryl Hines expressed alarm as Kennedy Jr. cornered and lifted the nonvenomous but defensive snakes.
"Honey, honey, why?" Hines shouted while watching her husband interact with the reptiles. When the snakes bit his hands repeatedly, she pleaded, "Bobby, please! Bobby, Bobby, please," before later commenting, "You are nuts."
Kennedy Jr. laughed through the bites in the earlier video, saying, "Black snakes, they're biting me," as both snakes continued striking at his hands.
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, black racers are nonvenomous and generally harmless to humans despite readily biting when threatened. Kennedy Jr.'s Wednesday video featured a venomous species, prompting renewed questions about the risks he was taking with wildlife encounters.