A Fox News panel schooled "The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg after she accused Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., of fat shaming.
Kennedy has spoken multiple times about reforming America’s approach to food, particularly when it comes to controversial ingredients. He has recently encouraged Americans to embrace healthier lifestyles and healthier food choices instead of using new weight-loss drugs.
"Most people with diabetes or prediabetic can be cured with good food," he said in a recent public appearance. "If they choose instead to be cured by Ozempic, the government then pays $1,500 a month for the rest of their lives and with a fraction of that, we can give everybody organic foods, three meals a day in the country."
Goldberg did not respond well to his rhetoric, responding on "The View," "This isn’t just about food. This is – sometimes people are born genetically larger."
"You are setting folks up for shame," she said, addressing Kennedy. "That’s what you’re trying – maybe you don’t know what you’re doing. I’m gonna give you the benefit of the doubt. I’m gonna say you don’t know, and you don’t realize what you do to people when you say stuff like that, because it doesn’t work for everybody."
The talk show host said that less than two years ago she weighed close to 300 pounds and argued that without the weight-loss medication, "This would not have happened," showing her current physique.
TRUMP TAPS RFK JR. TO LEAD DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Panelists on Fox News’ "Outnumbered" chuckled and rejected Goldberg’s rhetoric.
Dr. Nicole Saphier argued that, as a radiologist, "I see everybody’s insides and outside, and I can tell you that we actually are – the far majority of us – created equally when it comes to our insides."
"Now, Whoopi Goldberg is correct when she said there are some genetic and familial predispositions to people being overweight, specifically metabolic syndrome and some others, but RFK, Jr. is also correct, and I apologize, but the truth hurts. A lot of it has to do with lifestyle factors."
She went on to argue how consuming cheap, highly processed foods is leading to obesity in poorer areas.
"Unfortunately, what you see, especially in low-income areas, access to healthy foods is just not there, they’re certainly not affordable," Saphier continued. "They don’t get to go to the local market to get organic foods, in fact, they get the highly processed cheap stuff."
"That unfortunately, is what puts us into this dangerous cycle of unhealthy eating. It’s not necessarily because they are gluttonous, or they’re wanting to run their own health or their body or their lifestyles, but that is what they can access and they can afford," she said.
Fox News host Harris Faulkner read a quote from Kennedy that weight-loss drugs are an option, but should not be the first choice taken: "The first line response should be: lifestyle. It should be eating well, making sure that you don’t get obese. And that those [weight loss] drugs have a place."
RFK JR. CALLS FOR REMOVAL OF FLUORIDE FROM DRINKING WATER, SPARKING DEBATE
Ian Prior, senior adviser at America First Legal responded, "I don’t remember Whoopi Goldberg upset with Michelle Obama’s school lunch plan back in 2010. There was no ‘fat shaming’ there."
"It is always the person delivering the message" that the left focuses on rather than "the message" itself, he said.
"How stupid do you have to be to not understand that being overweight is unhealthy?" Fox News anchor Julie Banderas asked, citing the rates of various obesity-related diseases and health complications.
"This isn’t fat shaming, this is wanting a healthy America. Right now we have an obese America. The numbers of overweight people in this country are astronomical. I, too, have lost weight. I remember what it felt like to be overweight, it was an awful feeling, so I can speak on behalf of those that have been struggling with weight loss and yo-yo dieting my entire life, it sucks," she continued.
"I mean it does not feel comfortable, but you feel so much healthier. Get out there and exercise! That’s what parents need to be teaching kids. Kids are on their iPads, they’re on their iPhones. We’re raising future fat kids! Honestly, and I’m not fat shaming, I just see so many children that are overweight, and I think that’s so unhealthy," Banderas added.
Saphier responded, "It’s very unfortunate what they’re doing, like on ‘The View’ and other ones, all they’re doing is praising these medications. While they do have a place for some people, there are also some serious consequences with it. And just in the last month, it came out that some breast cancer patients, their chemotherapy is not as effective if they’re on the medications. We just don’t know, so we have to move forward with caution."
