RFK Jr.'s month of molding his macho image

Putin-like shirtless scenes, action figures, buddies with Mike Tyson & Kid Rock, mixing it up with Joe Rogan and a mixed martial arts fighter.

Americans laughed when Vladimir Putin presented this bare-chested macho image on his official state television, lest Russians have any doubts about what a strong and dynamic leader he was.

But do Americans want or need this look - repeatedly - from a US federal health agency leader?

The President said in late 2024 that if he were elected, he would let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild” on public health messages. He was elected. He named RFK Jr. as Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS). And he has gone wild - no more so than in the just-concluded month of February.

The month of February 2026 will go down in history as the most bizarre image-making month of an HHS Secretary in history. Nothing like this occurred with Margaret Heckler, Donna Shalala, Tommy Thompson, Joe Califano, Patricia Roberts Harris or any of the others.

Going wild

Like his workout video with Kid Rock, getting into a cold plunge with his blue jeans on (!), and drinking whole milk in a whirlpool. All of this on the official US Department of Health & Human Services social media sites - just like Putin did on official state messaging. This has become a punching bag for late-night TV hosts and for social media memes.

Kennedy seems ecstatic about teaming with former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson to deliver the “Eat Real Food” message - the perfect role model for making Americans healthy again, right?

RFK is so into Mike mode that he had himself depicted with Tyson’s Māori warrior-inspired tattoo on his face.

He flaunted the tough guy image by hamming it up with mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor.

“The Secretary Kennedy Action Figure Playset” appears on the “official page of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.” (click here or on the image to see the video).

More macho imagery with podcaster Joe Rogan.

Last Halloween, he appeared as a zombie-like figure with burning eyes to drive home his mission of ridding us of high-fructose corn syrup and food dyes. (I think this is the only one of all of these images that didn’t appear in February.)

On his “national barbecue tour,” slicing into some “real food” of saturated fat. One person responded on his official X page:

American tax payers are paying for the secretary of HHS to travel the country tasting the best BBQ????

Posting a Valentine’s Day card on his official HHS page.

Using a South Park-like cartoon to tout his new food pyramid. (Click on the link or on the image to see the video.)

But the topper was his explanation of why he didn’t fear the COVID-19 virus: “I’m not scared of a germ. I used to snort cocaine off toilet seats.”

I was working on this article last Friday when STAT News kind of beat me to the punch, asking:

Marissa Padilla, executive vice president at Global Strategies Group, worked on communications at HHS under the Obama administration — and said they never came close to considering posts like those from Kennedy. …(She said,) “Creating fake, hero worship ultimately undermines HHS’s credibility.” …

The posts risk crossing other ethical boundaries too, experts said. Under the Hatch Act, official government social media accounts and other communications should remain politically neutral.

There is speculation that the Trump administration has decided that - before the midterm elections - “eat real food” is more popular with voters than anti-vaccination messages.

STAT reminds us that Kennedy is not alone with this image-making fascination. I’ve written about Medicare & Medicaid administrator Dr. Oz’s strange video - acting like a tough guy alleging Medicaid fraud in Los Angeles - for which he provided zero evidence. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth showed himself working out with Army Rangers on the beach. Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem has a multimillion-dollar ad campaign. FDA commissioner Marty Makary has shown that he’s in love with the camera as well. Jay Bhattacharya - who now heads the NIH and the CDC - has been referred to as “podcast Jay” because of all the interviews he does.

So far, Kennedy is leading what almost feels like competition among Cabinet members and agency directors for publicity. Is this how you want your taxpayer money spent? Is this how you want your non-elected Cabinet members and federal agency hires spending their time? What vital government work is being set aside so that the photo and video shoots can be done?

But this all seems to be just peachy with the President, who, on his Truth Social site has depicted himself as King Trump piloting a fighter jet…as the pope…as a Star Wars Jedi…and as a golden statue as he converts the Gaza strip into a luxury resort. Just to name a few.

It’s PR and marketing from top to bottom - all in the name of public service.

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