Thanksgiving traditions often come with a personal touch, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is no exception.
This holiday, the nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary has shared his take on preparing a Thanksgiving turkey, calling it “the MAHA way.”
In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, Kennedy Jr. is seen barefoot in his backyard heating beef tallow fat in a metal pot before carefully lowering the turkey.
“This is how we cook the MAHA way,” Kennedy said, referencing his slogan “Make American Healthy Again.” He is also heard telling viewers to “put it in very slowly. Wait until it stops making noise,” before leaving the turkey to cook.
At one point, he also asks his wife Cheryl Hines if she wants any, to which she responds “No. I don’t eat turkey.”
Showing off the results after 40 minutes, Kennedy Jr. said: “That’s gonna be delicious.”
The video has gone viral on X with 3.7 million views as of early Friday morning.
Kennedy Jr. has previously claimed that beef tallow is a healthier cooking fat than seed oils, which he believes are a primary contributor to the obesity crisis.
“Seed oils are one of the most unhealthy ingredients that we have in foods. We need to Make Frying Oil Tallow Again,” he said in a post on X in October.
However, some nutrition experts, including Christopher Gardner, a professor of medicine at Stanford University, have argued that the claim that seed oils are harmful to health is false. Research has shown that the heart-healthy unsaturated fats they contain have been linked with reduced risks for cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, cancer and earlier death. Meanwhile, alternatives like beef tallow, butter or lard are high in unhealthy saturated fats.
However, other experts, including James J DiNicolantonio and James H O’Keefe from the Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, have suggested in their research that excessive consumption of seed oils may contribute to inflammation in the body and increase the risk of diseases such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump at Macomb Community College on November 01, 2024 in Warren, Michigan. Kennedy showed off how to cook Thanksgiving… Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump at Macomb Community College on November 01, 2024 in Warren, Michigan. Kennedy showed off how to cook Thanksgiving turkey the “MAHA way.” GETTY
Many social media influencers on platforms like TikTok have also claimed that seed oils contain toxins.
Joe Rogan has claimed they are “some of the worst f***ing things your body can consume.” Meanwhile, JD Vance has also said he doesn’t cook with seed oils.
Seed oils include canola, soybean, and hydrogenated soybean oil, among others. A blend of these oils is often used to cook fast food in chains like McDonald’s, which switched to using seed oils in the 1990s largely to reduce saturated fat content in response to growing concerns about heart disease.
Kennedy Jr. has spent decades railing against McDonald’s, publicly criticizing Donald Trump’s love of the fast food chain. He described the food as “poison” and “really bad” on an episode of The Joe Polish Show podcast this month.
In a separate recent interview with Fox News, he said: “I don’t have anything against fast food. I’m against food that has seed oils. When I was a kid, McDonald’s was made with tallow [animal] fat, that was good for you, and your body needs that, it makes you healthy. Why aren’t we making it with tallow fat again?”
Kennedy was accused of hypocrisy last week when he was pictured on Trump Force One, apparently about to tuck into a McDonald’s burger, fries and Coca-Cola, while surrounded by the president-elect, his son Donald Trump Jr., and billionaire Elon Musk.
Donald Trump Jr, seated to his right, joked after the image was widely shared that Kennedy Jr’s mission to “make America healthy again” would have to wait until “tomorrow”.
“Like all good diets, you’ve got to have a cheat day once in a while,” he said.
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Kennedy Jr. cooked his meal while barefoot in his backyard.
