Photo of RFK Jr. Eating McDonald’s, Drinking Coke With Trump Goes Viral

A photo of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. having a McDonald’s meal and drinking a Coca-Cola with President-elect Donald Trump while flying Saturday night on Trump Force One is going viral on social media.
RFK Jr., Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is concerned about the obesity epidemic and levels of lifestyle-related diseases in the United States, blaming ultra-processed foods as a major contributor.
If approved by the U.S. Senate, RFK Jr. says his top initiative in the role is to “Make America Healthy Again,” borrowing from Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again” (MAGA).
Kennedy Jr., who Trump promised could “go wild on health” in his new administration, said on The Joe Polish Show that the president-elect ate “just poison” on the campaign trail.
“The stuff that he eats is really, like, bad,” the former independent presidential candidate said. “The food that goes onto that airplane is like just poison. You have a choice between—you don’t have the choice—you’re either given KFC [Kentucky Fried Chicken] or Big Macs. That’s when you’re lucky and then the rest of the stuff I consider kind of inedible.”
Kennedy Jr. did acknowledge that food consumed on the campaign trail is “always bad.”
The viral photo that was posted to X, formerly Twitter, also included Donald Trump Jr. and tech billionaire Elon Musk, seated with McDonald’s meals, while House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, is shown standing behind Trump Jr. and RFK Jr. Margo Martin, deputy director of communications for the Trump campaign, posted the photo to X shortly after 2:30 a.m. during the group’s Saturday night trip to the UFC fight in New York City.
As of 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Martin’s photo had been viewed over 22 million times.
Among the items in front of RFK Jr. in the photo is an order of McDonald’s fries, which are reportedly cooked in seed oils.
On Fox News on October 28, Kennedy Jr. called seed oils “one of the most unhealthy ingredients that we have in foods,” contributing to “body-wide inflammation.” Two days later on the network, he said that McDonald’s French fries would be healthier if fried in tallow fat, rather than seed oils.
Newsweek has reached out to RFK Jr.’s press team via email Sunday morning for comment.
Seed oils are a much-debated topic. Some nutrition experts agree that seed oils—such as canola, rapeseed or sunflower oil—cause inflammation in the body and increase the risk of diseases such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
Other nutrition experts—including most registered dietitians—support the view that seed oils in moderation are a safe source of unsaturated fats, and that saturated fats such as tallow raise cholesterol levels and contribute to heart disease risk.
Trump’s love for McDonald’s has been long known. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, wrote in his 2022 memoir Breaking History that one of Trump’s favorite meals was “a McDonald’s Big Mac, Filet-o-Fish, fries and a vanilla shake.”
A similar Trump go-to McDonald’s order—two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish and a chocolate malted shake—was mentioned in the 2017 book Let Trump Be Trump by former Trump campaign officials Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie.
Meanwhile, some users on X pointed out the perceived hypocrisy of RFK Jr. eating fast food and drinking soda while leading a crusade against process foods, additives and preservatives.
“RFK Jr. said on Fox & Friends that he didn’t have a problem with fast food or McDonald’s he was just against ‘seed oil.’ McDonald’s cooks its fries in seed oil. He is also drinking a Coke with high fructose corn syrup. This man is a complete fraud,” journalist Juliet Jeske posted on the @decodingfoxnews account.
“RFK jr: Vaccines are bad for you. But a McDonald’s quarter pounder, 10 chicken nuggets, fries and a Coca Cola, that what makes America healthy again,” British political commentator Ali Milani posted on X.
Author David Sunfellow wrote on X, “Well this is awkward…”
However, Trump Jr. and some of his father’s MAGA supporters had some fun with the viral photo.
“Make America Healthy Again starts TOMORROW,” Trump Jr. wrote in a re-post of Martin’s photo on X.
“RFK eating a full McDonald’s meal with a Coke, the silverware sets for each of them, Mike Johnson trying to get into the shot… So many things about this are hilarious,” the @_JohnnyMaga account posted on X.
Update: 11/17/24, 5:45 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with more information.