RFK eviscerated for saying he knows kids’ health is in crisis since they look stressed at airports

August 29 2025, 08:15

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a series of bizarre comments about American kids’ health while attending a bill signing in Texas for new health legislation.

Kennedy — who has been spearheading the elimination of HIV and AIDS related programs; believes vaccines cause autism and that the disorder “destroys” children and families; and did nothing to stop the end of a federal crisis hotline for LGBTQ+ youth – has positioned himself as a staunch defender of children’s health.

Related

Judge rules in favor of LGBTQ+ health researchers after HHS revoked funding for “radical” programs

His nonsensical comments at the bill signing, however, have reaffirmed for many that he seems to manufacture his beliefs out of thin air.

“I know what a healthy child is supposed to look like. I’m looking at kids as I walk through the airports today, as I walk down the street, and I see these kids that are just overburdened with mitochondrial challenges, with inflammation,” he rambled. “You can tell from their faces, from their body movements, and from their lack of social connection, and I know that that’s not how our children are supposed to look.”

Never Miss a Beat

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Kennedy – a conspiracy theorist who has no background in medical science – has been a prominent voice in the anti-vaccine movement, which is based on pseudoscience and uses misinformation to spread the belief that vaccines don’t prevent disease. He formerly chaired the Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine organization that claims that vaccines cause autism, ADHD, food allergies, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.

The Secretary has been ruthlessly mocked for claiming to know if a child is healthy by looking at them as they walk by and for using the nonsensical term, “mitochondrial challenges.” Many also expressed fear for the nation’s future with someone like him leading our health strategy.

The man looks like a 90 year old baseball glove, what does he know about visual indicators https://t.co/quudiPuP6c
— Sam Cornale (@samcornale) August 27, 2025

I can't imagine why kids are repelled by the leathery guy who looks them up and down in airports for "mitochondrial challenges." https://t.co/nOTGIGMgQ4
— Mike Rothschild (@rothschildmd on blu sky) (@rothschildmd) August 27, 2025

Horrors abound but a guy who will say “overburdened with mitochondrial challenges” and somehow be in charge of the nation’s public health infrastructure is TOUGH TO BEAT
— Dave Levitan (@davelevitan.bsky.social) 2025-08-28T01:02:59.676Z

If ever there was somebody who was clearly “overburdened by mitochondrial challenges” it’s RFK Jr
— Jon Cryer (@mrjoncryer.bsky.social) 2025-08-28T13:54:36.741Z

So he went from "Nobody should be taking health advice from me" to "I can see pediatric mitochondrial challenges with my eyes"
— Chucky Dub (@chucky-dub.bsky.social) 2025-08-28T01:40:08.396Z

Speaking as a pediatrician, this is complete quackery. If you ever have a medical provider tell you they can spot inflammation or so-called “mitochondrial challenges” from across the room, please find a different provider – before your child is potentially harmed by unnecessary…
— Zev Waldman MD (@ZevWaldman) August 28, 2025

Remind me again how much medical training he's had.
— Russ Hjelm (@russ_hjelm) August 27, 2025

Medicine and public health have added three decades to the human lifespan. Vaccination alone produced 40% of the reduction in child deaths.

And now a disturbed and unqualified man driven by crackpot theories is destroying the foundations of this work, including CDC. https://t.co/hZJUnPdSjx
— Atul Gawande (@Atul_Gawande) August 28, 2025

You’re not a doctor. You didn’t even take a science course in college. Otherwise you’d probably understand that we don’t base our national public health policies on anecdotal observations made by lunatics about children at the airport. https://t.co/hMkfhOO1ul
— Andrew—#IAmTheResistance—Wortman (@AmoneyResists) August 27, 2025

Scientist here. Mitochondria do not present challenges to faces, movements, or social connections. Maybe those kids just don’t like you because you’re staring at them like a creep who wants to give them measles. https://t.co/S8MGKV834V
— Dr. Angela Rasmussen (@angie_rasmussen) August 28, 2025

The non-doctor is diagnosing children from 30 meters distance with fake diseases and invented psychological conditions that have no basis in reality. He does get credit for cramming a remarkable amount of stupidity into the fewest amount of words possible. https://t.co/Bta9ipksaQ
— John Jackson (@hissgoescobra) August 27, 2025

Comments (0)

Back to news