February 20, 2026
Phillip showcased a montage of Republican strategists and leaders bashing Michelle Obama’s 2010 “Let’s Move!” health campaign, which is now being celebrated — but in a different color.
CNN’s Abby Phillip questioned why the new “Make America Healthy Again (MAHA)” campaign from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is getting support from Republican leaders when it looks vaguely familiar to former first lady Michelle Obama’s 2010 “Let’s Move!” initiative.
In a bizarre “Rock Out Work Out” video featuring Kennedy Jr. and Kid Rock working out in jeans, shirtless, dipping into ice baths, and drinking whole milk in hot tubs, the men called for the American people to “get active and eat real food.”
Phillip called the secretary out for mimicking the 2010 campaign, sharing almost identical ideologies. “But if that sounds very familiar to you, that’s because it is,” the news anchor said. She included clips of Republican leaders and strategists going against Obama’s initiative, including a clip of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson saying, “Why would you want to raise your own kids when Michelle Obama will do it for you?”
Conservative commentator Glenn Beck said, “When I heard this, I thought, get your damn hands off my fries, lady.” “If I want to be a fat, fat, fatty and shovel french fries all day long, that is my choice,” he continued.
So what changed?
Phillip issued the question to fellow commentators asking if they felt conservatives and Republicans would “ever admit that they were wrong to lampoon Michelle Obama for basically common sense?” Xochitl Hinojosa, who once served as communications director for the Democratic National Committee, said “absolutely not.” “I think that Michelle Obama’s initiative was geared toward families and children, making sure people are active and eating healthy,” she said, according to Daily Beast.
“This RFK video, or whatever this is, was a vanity project.”
The first Black first lady in American history was celebrated by parents for her healthy campaign, even partnering with beloved Sesame Street resident, Big Bird. But former Obama White House chef and food policy adviser who led the first lady’s initiative, Sam Kass, said Kennedy’s MAHA is somewhat at the fault of Democrats, who he said “absolutely blundered this issue.”
He said the party left room for MAHA influencers and loyalists to thrive. “So are they hypocrites for that? Certainly,” the chef said, according to Politico.
“But I welcome Republican support on trying to genuinely improve the health of the nation.”
RELATED CONTENT: Here We Go Again: Trump Wants Smithsonian To Focus On America’s ‘Brightness’ And Hide The Dark Truth About Slavery
