Dr. Mehmet Oz and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a brief but awkward tussle over their positions beside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Monday.
Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Kennedy, the secretary of Health and Human Services, were among those lined up behind the 80-year-old president, who sat sleepily behind the Resolute Desk during the event on drug prices.
The gathering was to announce nine agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers to “lower prescription drug prices for Americans in line with the lowest prices paid by other developed nations,” a White House fact sheet claimed.
About 15 minutes into the event, Kennedy was the first to step forward. Toward the end of his comments, he thanked the nine participating companies, as well as some of the Trump administration officials in the room, including Oz and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“They all made this happen. It’s an extraordinary achievement. And I want to thank the CEOs here today for their vision and commitment to something other than short-term profits, but a long-term commitment to our country, to patriotic values, and to human health,” said Kennedy, a leader in the anti-vaccine movement.
Kennedy then tried to return to his place directly behind Trump. Oz, however, was in his way. He extended his left arm to touch Kennedy’s right, appearing to hold him back.
“If I could add one thing from the front lines,” Oz, 66, began. “TrumpRX, which you asked about, is incredibly popular...”
Kennedy then made a second attempt to get past Oz. That, too, was thwarted when the former television doctor touched Kennedy’s right shoulder. Kennedy then shuffled back, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
After talking for one-and-a-half more minutes, Oz stepped back and turned things over to Lutnick, allowing Kennedy to return to his spot. The two then had a brief, inaudible exchange, with Kennedy saying something to Oz, who responded by whispering in his ear.
Occasionally during Monday’s hour-long, mid-afternoon gathering, Trump appeared tired, shutting his eyes for sustained periods of time. In the president’s second term, this has been more frequent than during his first—to the point where White House staffers are reportedly trying to prevent it in part by shortening their presentations. At an Oval Office event earlier this month in which Kennedy was also present, Trump appeared to doze off multiple times.
“I’ll just close. It’s very relaxing to me,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal in January. “Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink.”
