Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made jokes about West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey weight during a public event on Friday.
Morrisey appeared alongside Kennedy to discuss West Virginia's role in leading the Trump administration's "Make America Healthy Again" initiative. During Kennedy's speech, he made a series of fat jokes aimed at Morrisey, even suggesting the governor participate in public monthly weigh-ins.
"I said to Governor Morrisey the first time I saw him, I said, 'You look like you ate Governor Morrisey,'" Kennedy recalled to laughter from the audience.
He went on to joke about becoming Morrisey's "personal trainer" and putting him on a "really rigorous regimen" that includes a carnivore diet. Kennedy then asked the crowd if Morrisey should commit to a public weigh-in each month, adding that if the governor lost 30 pounds, he would return to West Virginia to celebrate and weigh in alongside him.
Morrisey took the jabs in stride, joking back that Kennedy's proposal was "a little more than I bargained for."
Outside of fat-shaming, the event focused on West Virginia's new health initiatives, including banning certain food dyes in school lunches, expanding work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and restricting the use of SNAP to purchase soda.
West Virginia currently has the highest obesity rate in the country, and the second to lowest life expectancy.
Neither Kennedy nor Morrisey has commented further on the exchange.
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