MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appeared on NewsNation on Tuesday alongside WWE wrestler turned CCO Paul "Triple H" Levesque to promote the return of the Presidential Fitness Test to public schools. Levesque is also the son-in-law of Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
During the interview, RFK Jr. made a comment that left the public wondering about his grasp on reality.
NewsNation’s Anna Kooiman said:
"One of the criticisms of the Presidential Fitness Test back in the 2010s before it was nixed was that it wasn’t great for kids’ self-esteem, that it was hard for the kids who weren’t physically inclined."
She then asked:
"So what can we do to make sure that this Presidential Fitness Test, this version, makes everybody feel like it’s empowering them to get strong and get ahead?"
After saying failure is part of life, the HHS Secretary declared:
"The great thing about WWE [wrestling] that’s so inspiring is that all of these guys have failed–every one of them have lost fights."
You can watch his comments here:
RFK Jr. added:
"That’s the beauty of WWE: you lose sometime but you win sometime."
While the coordinated stunt work involved to make the WWE entertaining does result in injuries, and even one death, neither fights nor effort determine the winner. It's almost universally known that WWE wrestling outcomes are scripted and decided in advance of any of the choreographed bouts being staged for the audience.
But does RFK Jr. know that?
People who saw the interview were left with doubts.
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The original Presidential Fitness Test was officially phased out upon the recommendation of education and health experts during the 2012–2013 school year. Experts had noted for decades that the program rewarded existing athletes, but didn't include anything to promote every student improving their fitness levels.
The administration of Democratic President Barack Obama replaced it with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, which shifted the focus to overall health and wellness and individual progress rather than one standardized athletic pass/fail test.
Trump ended the Obama program to return to the test that doesn't promote healthy lifestyle education or encourage progress.
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