Secretary of Health, Robert ‘I purge whales and snack on hoppers’ Kennedy goes controversially ‘barefoot’ in new harebrained exploit

Incoming Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., never fails to shock, disgust, and amuse for his bonkers beliefs and downright dangerous demonstrations of reckless abandon. This Thanksgiving, good old RFK deep-fried a whole turkey and posted the clip to X, formerly Twitter.

In the video, RFK deep fries an entire turkey in beef tallow, a somewhat controversial substance — but that’s the least of his problems, as there were so many health and safety violations in the video it’s difficult to believe everything came out okay!

The setup is one many people will be familiar with — a vat for deep frying, a fuel, and of course a turkey for frying. But RFK takes to the process with a laissez-faire attitude unbecoming of the Secretary of Health, completing the cookout barefoot and without any kind of personal protective equipment.

While some users criticized the choice of tallow, citing its unhealthy properties, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing to use in cooking. Beef tallow may be unsuitable for those looking to lower their cholesterol, but the animal fat does have some health benefits when used sparingly. Although some people don’t like how tallow is obtained from the cow during the rendering process, this is a much more personal objection.

So even though RFK attracted criticism from X users for his “stupid” choice of frying agent, it should be said that beef tallow isn’t really any more dangerous than other frying mediums, assuming it’s used correctly. A popular tweet containing criticism of RFK’s choice even received a community note to exactly that effect.

But before the MAGAs get out to celebrate, beef tallow isn’t the only issue. The problem is that the Secretary of Health nominee doesn’t appear to have put any safety mechanisms in place! Deep frying the whole turkey barefoot, right next to many different wooden objects, without gloves or anything to cover the face, RFK Jr. throws caution to the winds as he cooks up a storm. Some X users were quick to point out the problem, while others were unsurprised:

Every time the turkey goes in and out of the vat, there’s the potential for spillage of hot oil — right over bare feet and wood. When the oil touches fire, bad things can happen. So it’s not the best of ideas, even if in this instance it did work out okay. And don’t even get us started on how the whole thing remained uncovered, open to anything that could and did fall in the simmering oil in the 40 minutes it boiled in the oil. In a private dwelling, RFK Jr. doesn’t need to follow commercial health codes, but it’s not a good look for a prospective Secretary of Health to be so blasé with health and safety.

Except RFK Jr. is no stranger to dangerous stunts or weird behaviors. While frying a turkey barefoot isn’t a normal activity, it’s far from his only downright bizarre animal antic. From dumping a dead bear in Central Park after failing to skin and butcher it to chopping the head off a whale and strapping it to the top of his car, or even that one time he videoed himself lecturing about grasshoppers, RFK Jr. has a truly astonishing record when it comes to animals.

What’s even weirder is that he was an environmental lawyer with many, many good works to his name before drinking the Kool-Aid and becoming an anti-vaxxer Trumpian mess, making him a truly bizarre pick for the Secretary of Health role. Just like his Thanksgiving Day video, RFK Jr. is a wild ride and one which, unfortunately, (if picked) won’t end for another four years.