ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — It wasn’t just the dead bear.
Days after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted taking a bear carcass from the side of the road and placing it in Central Park as a joke Ten years ago he said he had suffered from traffic accidents his ‘whole life’ and that he once had a ‘freezer full of them’ at home.
The comment came as the independent presidential candidate left a courtroom in upstate New York where he had been testifying on Wednesday in a lawsuit trying to exclude him from the state’s ballot in November.
The lawsuit focused on whether Kennedy improperly listed a residence in the New York City suburb of Katonah as his home address in his nomination petitions, when he has actually lived in the Los Angeles area since 2014.
But the substance of the trial has been largely overshadowed in recent days by a story, unearthed by The New Yorker, that Kennedy once packed a dead bear cub into his car while on a hike, drove it around for a day and then dumped it. it was in Central Park with a group of friends when he realized he had a flight to catch.
In a video posted to social media on Sunday, Kennedy told comedian Roseanne Barr that he planned to skin the bear, which was in “very good condition.” He continued, saying, “I wanted to put the meat in my refrigerator,” but didn’t say what he planned to do with it.
Speaking to reporters in a hallway after court ended Wednesday, Kennedy was asked if he had picked up any other traffic fatalities.
‘I have been in traffic accidents all my life. I have a freezer full of them,” he said, laughing.
Kennedy campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear later said by text message that he was not joking. She said this is how Kennedy, a falconer who trains ravens, feeds his birds. She added that he no longer has the 0.59 cubic meter refrigerator, which was located in suburban Westchester County, New York.
On the witness stand, Kennedy was questioned for a second day about where he lives and whether he should be barred from the New York ballot in November.
He testified that his move to California a decade ago was only temporary so he could be with his wife, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actor Cheryl Hines, and that he always planned to return to New York.
Attorneys representing several New York voters have done just that tried to demonstrate Kennedy does not live in New York and relies on government documents and even a recent video on social media in which Kennedy talks about taming ravens that he feeds in his Los Angeles home.
In a heated exchange in the Albany courtroom, defense attorney Keith Corbett repeatedly asked Kennedy whether moving to California with his family and pets showed he intended to live in that state.
Kennedy hesitated to give a “yes” or “no” answer, saying the reality was more nuanced.
“Do you want a yes or no answer, or do you want the truth?” Kennedy said.
“My intention is to return to New York and that is the only requirement for residency,” he said.
Under questioning by his own attorney, Kennedy said he moved to California out of love for his wife and concern for her career.
“I said I would figure out a way to make a living in California until we could move back, and that was our agreement,” he said.
He said it was hard for him to leave New York because he had built his life there.
The home in question is a room in a house in affluent Katonah, about 40 miles north of Manhattan. Kennedy testified Wednesday that he slept in that room only once, citing his constant travel for his campaign.
When shown a photo of the room, Kennedy acknowledged that the furniture and paintings in the room are not his, but he said the photos on the bedside table are his.
“I think one of them is a picture of me and Mick Jagger,” he said.
Kennedy’s lawyer, William F. Savino, asked him why he had not simply rented or bought a house in New York for the past decade. Kennedy said homeownership is time-consuming and expensive.
“It snows a lot here,” he said. “The pipes break, the driveway needs to be plowed and all the other burdens that come with homeownership.”
Kennedy, who lived in New York for years before moving to California, noted that his father was similarly accused when he ran for a Senate seat in New York in 1964 and won. Months before that election, his father, Robert F. Kennedy, rented a house on Long Island.
“He was also accused of not being a New Yorker,” he said.
The woman who owns the Katonah estate testified Tuesday that Kennedy rents a room for $500 a month, but she acknowledged those payments began in May, a day after a New York Post story challenged the candidate’s claim that he lives in New York was questioned. Kennedy testified that he believed his assistant had paid rent for the past year and that he arranged for payments to begin after the newspaper article.
The lawsuit against Kennedy is backed by Clear Choice PAC, a super PAC led by supporters of Democratic President Joe Biden. A judge decides the outcome without a jury.
Kennedy’s campaign has said he has enough signatures to qualify in most states, but his ballot measure has faced challenges and lawsuits in several states, including North Carolina And New Jersey.
Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.