We get it, RFK Jr: you have abs. Now enough with the slopaganda | Arwa Mahdawi

VLadimir Putin loves bombing Ukraine and taking his shirt off – not necessarily in that order. The Russian leader is well known for his macho photo shoots, including this famous photo of him riding shirtless in Siberia. While various politicians mocked Putin for his pose, others took notes. And by others, I mean Robert F Kennedy Jr, who spent much of his time in politics spamming social media with increasingly bizarre images of himself working out.

In 2023, when Kennedy ran for president, he posted a video of himself doing shirtless push-ups in an empty parking lot in preparation for his debate with Joe Biden — bizarrely, he wore blue jeans for the stunt. Now that Kennedy is the US Secretary of Health, the videos are coming at a faster pace.

In August, he was filmed doing a workout with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which they called “the Pete and Bobby Challenge.” Kennedy kept his shirt on for this one, but the jeans were back. A few months later, this time in costume, Kennedy participated in a pull-up competition at Reagan National Airport with the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. This was part of a new initiative to transform airports into wellness spaces. It sounds nice, but there are more pressing things to focus on. Like making sure airport workers, many of whom haven’t received their paychecks due to the current partial government shutdown, can pay their bills.

In February, Kennedy teamed up with Maga singer Kid Rock for a 90-second video showing, among other things, the couple working out in a sauna. Kennedy (in the shirtless and blue jeans combo) pedaled furiously on an exercise bike while Kid Rock (swimsuit) did push-ups. Once again it was in a sauna. Kennedy once had a parasite in his brain; Is he also looking for some sort of fungal infection? Later in the video, Kennedy soaks in a cold bath with his jeans on before he and Kid Rock drink whole (and presumably raw) milk in a hot tub.

Then, on Sunday, Kennedy posted an AI video in which, shirtless and wearing office shoes, he wrestles a Twinkie. Yeah, I know, I also did a double-take when I first saw the title. A Twinkie, for the benefit of readers unfamiliar with highly processed American foods, is a phallic-looking cake filled with cream. The Twinkie may be a unique touch, but Kennedy is not unusual in issuing AI slopaganda: The Trump administration is fighting its way through the Iran war and is obsessed with AI slopaganda.

Either way, I think we all get the message by now: Kennedy has abs. He’s a 72-year-old baby nepo with strange views on modern medicine and a muscular chest. Congratulations! Maybe one day FIFA will be able to give him an award like his boss, Donald Trump. But for now, maybe he could stop with the videos and maybe start focusing on the fact that measles cases are skyrocketing in the United States?

This is partly due to increased skepticism about vaccines, which Kennedy helped fuel. A pediatrician I know told me that doctors now spend so much time talking to vaccine-hesitant parents that U.S. insurance companies just introduced new billing codes to ensure they get paid for that time. (This may be difficult for UK readers to understand, but US insurance companies ensure that every minute spent with your care provider can be monetized.)

Or maybe, if fighting measles is too much to ask, Kennedy could do something to make healthy foods cheaper in the United States, as part of his “eat real food” initiative. So far, all he seems to have done on that front is advise people not to buy steak. At a recent Maha (Making America Healthy) conference, Kennedy helpfully noted that while porterhouse is expensive: “You can buy cheaper liver or cuts of steak that are very, very affordable.” »

Talk about the intensification of everything. We can’t even have bread and circuses to appease us anymore. Instead, we have a fight against liver and Twinkie.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist