As far as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is concerned, all press is not good press.
MAGA-friendly comedian Tim Dillon revealed that the health secretary called him after the podcaster criticized him on The Tim Dillon Show.
“He was mad at me… that I said he wasn’t doing anything,” Dillon said on a new episode.
The podcaster then donned the Kennedy scion’s signature raspy voice to recount the conversation, saying Kennedy defended his work on behalf of the MAHA movement.
“He called me, and he goes, ‘Hello… someone showed me a clip of you saying that I wasn’t doing anything,’” Dillon recounted. Kennedy then added: “I’m doing a lot behind the scenes that people don’t know.”
Kennedy also insisted he “fought the glyphosate battle and I lost, but I campaigned heavily for that.”
The secretary was referring to backlash he received from his supporters after Trump issued an executive order promoting the use of glyphosate, a widely used weedkiller. MAHA supporters have long argued that the chemical is dangerous and have backed thousands of lawsuits involving Roundup, an herbicide originally manufactured by Monsanto.
Kennedy himself previously argued that Monsanto knew glyphosate caused cancer—and helped secure a $289 million jury verdict against the company in 2018, according to The New York Times.
Dillon then doubled down on his criticism.
“I just want RFK doing more, you know?” he said.
A representative for the Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first time the Kennedy scion has seemingly turned his back on his base. In yet another blow to the health secretary’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement, lobbying groups have poured millions into efforts to blunt Kennedy’s push to clean up the food supply—and it appears to be working.
Lobbyists have taken aim at Kennedy’s stated goal of closing the “GRAS” loophole. A GRAS, or “generally recognized as safe,” designation allows companies to bring products to market more quickly without formal FDA review, NOTUS reported Wednesday. MAHA activists are almost universally opposed to GRAS, arguing it allows untested ingredients into the food supply.
But while Kennedy, 72, has preemptively declared victory over GRAS, the food industry has nearly tripled its Washington lobbying efforts, NOTUS reported.
Companies including Nestlé, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and Keurig Dr Pepper are fighting the reform and rallying behind legislation from Florida Republican Kat Cammack that would narrow the loophole—but not close it. Under the proposal, foods designated as GRAS could still enter the market without FDA approval, while the agency could retroactively review and approve ingredients.
In April, Politico reported that a third of Americans now identify with the MAHA movement. At the same time, roughly half of those respondents told pollsters they do not believe Trump and Kennedy have accomplished enough of their promised agenda.
