Watching Robert F. Kennedy and Kid Rock work out together is a great way to feel sick

Watching Robert F. Kennedy and Kid Rock work out together is a great way to 
feel sick
 
Feb. 19, 2026
 
Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the strangest person alive?
Shia LaBeouf may get some votes after his arrest this week when Mardi Gras 
festivities turned into fisticuffs. Then there's the author who lives like 
it's the Victorian Era, replete with a 19th century bicycle, hand-sewn 
garments and gas lanterns. Need to microwave a Pizza Pocket? Don't go to 
her house unless you want to be called a gongoozler.
There are men who identify as dogs and women who can see into the future.
But none of these people are as strange as RFK Jr.
He is America's Secretary of Health and Human Services, which is as 
incongruous as referring to Sydney Sweeney as America's Secretary of Modest 
Attire. RFK was back in the news this week and not for another measles 
outbreak.
The Kennedy least liked by other Kennedys joined sweaty forces with Kid 
Rock, a singing MAGA hothead who looks like he's trying to pull a 3 Card 
Monte trick on gullible rubes outside a carnival.
The two released a short video: "Rock Out Work Out. "
Part PSA, part low-budget hair metal tribute, we get 90 seconds of Kiddie 
and Bobby doing leg presses and sit-ups. They cycle stationary air bikes 
inside a sauna, which does not seem wise. The only dialogue is when Kennedy 
asks, "Where's Kid? "
Kid is frolicking in a grotto that may contain chlorine and venereal 
microbes.
The soundtrack is Mr. Rock's "Bawitdaba, " a jolt of sonic pollution that 
will inspire you to pump iron with a cyanide capsule tucked under your 
tongue. Given the flash cuts, slow motion, fast motion and patriotic 
iconography — bald eagles, Stars-and-Stripes, fighter jets, flames — a 
better score would be "Flight of the Bumblebee. "
Oh, and RFK still works out shirtless with his legs encased in slim-fit 
denim.
This video is a great way to feel sick.
Encouraging health and exercise is never a bad idea. But at what point does 
the message get denuded by the oddities of the messenger?
To be fair, Kennedy is 72 and has the physique of a collegiate athlete. If 
I had his torso, I'd go to Canadian Tire bare-chested. But when I see him 
yanking on a cable machine or doing incline crunches, all I see is a guy 
who claims he can detect mitochondrial snafus just by glancing at kids in 
airports. I see a guy who talks about vaccines with grave skepticism about 
safety and efficacy, as if babies are getting jabbed with radioactive 
Mountain Dew.
Should the leader atop the world's largest health agency telegraph the 
medical bona fides of Dr. Elmer Hartman? And I'm giving RFK a pass on doing 
a cold plunge in his snug jeans. After sexting infidelities came to light, 
it's possible wife Cheryl Hines issued a marital decree: "Keep your pants 
on at all times! "
Would you trust Marjorie Michel, Canada's Minister of Health, if you caught 
her hitting a bong in a Wendy's parking lot? Meanwhile, RFK recently said 
he's not scared of germs because he used to snort cocaine off toilet seats.
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You don't pick a financial planner because he can deadlift his body weight.
Among many substantial reasons, RFK's weirdness alone should be 
disqualifying.
Imagine if your doctor said or did the things this guy says and does. You 
go to the beach and your doctor is taking a chainsaw to the head of a dead 
whale before securing it to the roof of his car with bungee cords. You go 
for a walk and your doctor is bobbing in creek of raw sewage. You tell your 
doctor you may have Ebola and he advises jumping jacks and whole milk.
I'm all ears if Kennedy wants to have a debate about the COVID vaccines, 
good and bad, to serve as a learning post-mortem for the next pandemic. But 
if he wants to blow a dog whistle for anti-vaxxers when vaccines have saved 
an estimated 150 million lives in the past 50 years, this is me covering my 
ears and stocking up on Cheez Whiz.
Public health relies on trust. It once valued data over vibes.
Kennedy wants to be taken seriously as an authoritarian voice on health and 
medicine. But on his watch, America is backsliding toward medieval 
superstition. It's only a matter of time until trepanation and bloodletting 
return.
Public health is more than CrossFit or the carnivore diet. Is Kid Rock the 
best ambassador for epidemiology? Really? A guy who opens fire on cans of 
Bud Light and shouts "USA! " at strangers? A guy who spikes his whole milk 
with Jim Beam?
This video is laughable. The danger is that laughable often get mistaken 
today for anti-establishment heroism. But between the brain worm and the 
bear cub head, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is too strange to be taken seriously.
Secretary, heal thyself.