Democratic Senators Slam RFK Jr.’s ‘Vanity Projects’

Democratic Senators called out HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for spending time and resources on his “vanity projects” instead of tackling more pressing public health crises.

“We are concerned that, instead of addressing the struggles that Americans face today in trying to keep their families safe and healthy, you are using taxpayer dollars to promote your personal brand,” wrote Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and five other Senators in a letter to Kennedy.

Those projects include a podcast and a cooking show. About 4 months ago, Kennedy launched “The Secretary Kennedy Podcast,” which features Kennedy in conversation with thought leaders on topics like ibogaine, “real food,” and biohacking and longevity.

More recently, he also launched “The Real Food Show.” In the 3 episodes produced thus far, Kennedy collaborates with television food personalities, including Daphne Oz, daughter of CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD. As he cooks alongside the celebrity chefs, Kennedy discusses the recent dietary guidelines, which a physician group recently sued the administration over, alleging HHS botched the process for developing the guidelines.

Both projects are featured on the HHS website and hosted on Kennedy’s official YouTube account.

The Senators noted that HHS has received resources from Congress to combat disease outbreaks and to bolster the response to and communications about public health emergencies. They claim that Kennedy isn’t using these resources to address public health crises but instead appears “to be directing taxpayer dollars and official federal resources to produce vanity projects.”

They requested a response from HHS by Sept. 30 on how much time, money, and labor have gone into Kennedy’s podcast and cooking show versus public health efforts for measles, Cyclospora, Salmonella, hantavirus, and Ebola. They also want to know where the money for the podcast and cooking show is allocated from.

MedPage Today also asked HHS how much time and money was spent on all of these projects and did not receive a response as of press time.

Georges Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told MedPage Today that he’s glad the Senators are trying to hold Secretary Kennedy accountable.

Benjamin pointed out that it’s not uncommon for public health officials to have radio or TV shows to spread their messages. In fact, it’s often a good thing — and an effective strategy — for public health officials to show their faces and have multiple avenues for reaching the public.

“What’s wrong is that Kennedy’s using those shows to express misinformation and unscientific stuff, and he’s not focusing his department on solving the problems that are right in front of him,” Benjamin said.

“When you read the letter, it’s not so much about the show. It’s, ‘What are you doing to help the American people?’ — and that’s the right question to be asking,” he added.

The letter, first reported by USA Today, was sent last Thursday and was co-signed by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.).