Trump, a Republican, selected Kennedy in November, shortly after he won the 2024 presidential election, saying Kennedy would “end the Chronic Disease epidemic” and “Make America Great and Healthy Again!” As one of the most prominent anti-vaccine activists in the world, Kennedy’s nomination immediately alarmed some public health officials.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. insisted Wednesday that—despite his own reservations with the items—he will not seek to ban or limit American’s access to things like McDonald’s or Diet Coke if he becomes health secretary.

“Campaign food is always bad, but the food that goes onto that airplane is, like, just poison,” Kennedy said on the podcast, likely referring to Trump's private airplane. You have a choice between – you don’t have the choice, you’re either given KFC or Big Macs.”