President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday that his objective to making “America Healthy Again” will not include taking food such as cheeseburgers or Twinkies off of the shelves – quipping his boss has a soft spot for fast food.
“Most importantly, we need to use, deploy, NIH and FDA to doing the research to understand the relationship between these different food additives and chronic diseases so that Americans understand it,” Kennedy explained before the committee on Wednesday.
“But I don’t want to take food away from anybody. If you like a cheeseburger, a McDonald’s cheeseburger, or a Diet Coke, which my boss loves, you should be able to get them,” he said, which sparked laughter from the audience.
“If you want a Hostess Twinkies, you should be able to do that. But you should know what the impacts are on your family and on your health,” he explained.
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US Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. takes his seat as he arrives during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on his nomination to be Health and Human Services Secretary, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, January 29, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump has long been a well-known fan of Diet Coke and McDonald’s fast-food, including re-installing a Diet Coke button on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office to swiftly deliver him the soft drink, and campaigned at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
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Kennedy’s hearing on Wednesday before the Senate Finance Committee is just the first, with the nominee scheduled to again join lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Thursday to appear before the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Kennedy has been at the forefront of “MAHA,” or Make America Health Again, movement within Trump’s orbit.
Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump, left, uses a frier as an employee looks on during a visit to McDonald’s in Feasterville-Trevose, Pa., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Kennedy’s hearing was expected to be fiery, as the son of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy has come under fire for his critical stance on vaccines and food additives. Kennedy defended in his hearing that he is not “anti-vaccine.”
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Donald Trump sharing a McDonald’s meal on his campaign plane with Elon Musk, Donald Trump Jr., House Speaker Mike Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Donald Trump Jr. / X)
“I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish. And nobody called me anti-fish. And I believe that … that vaccines play a critical role in health care. All of my kids are vaccinated. I’ve read many books on vaccines. My first book in 2014, a first line of it is ‘I am not anti-vaccine’ and last line is ‘I am not anti-vaccine.’ Nor I’m the enemy of food producers, American farms and the bedrock of our culture, of our politics, of our national security,” he said on Wednesday.
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Left: RFK Jr in a photo from congressional testimony. Right: Then-presidential nominee Donald Trump poses with employees during a campaign event at McDonald’s restaurant on October 20, 2024 in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania. (Getty Images)
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“In my advocacy, I’ve often disturbed this status quo. I am asking uncomfortable questions. Well, I’m not going to apologize for that. We have massive health problems in this country that we must face,” he added.
