Robert F. Kennedy Jr. yelled, argued, interrupted, and denied his own words during a heated exchange with a congresswoman who confronted him over inflammatory statements he’d made about Black children.
In 2024, the then-presidential candidate appeared on High Lvl Conversations, a YouTube show hosted by wellness and productivity influencer 19Keys, to discuss the mental health challenges facing Black men.
At one point during the conversation, Kennedy, 72, said that if elected, he would create “Wellness Farm” rehabilitation facilities in rural areas all around the country.
“Every Black kid is now just standard put on Adderall, SSRI, benzos, which are known to induce violence. And those children are going to have a chance to go somewhere to get reparented,” said Kennedy, who now serves as President Donald Trump’s health secretary.
During a congressional hearing Thursday about his department’s budget, Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama read Kennedy’s comment back to him and asked if he had ever parented or “re-parented a Black child.”
“I don’t even know what that phrase means, and I doubt that I said that,” he replied.
“You absolutely said it,” Sewell shot back.
“I’m not going to answer something that I didn’t say,” Kennedy said. “I’d like to hear the recording, as it doesn’t make any sense. I don’t even know what it means.”
“I don’t either. That’s why I’m asking,” Sewell replied.
During the 19Keys interview, Kennedy explained that his “wellness farms” would be free, and anyone who is dependent on legal or illegal drugs, including psychiatric drugs, could live in a community with no cell phones or screens, eat organic food, and earn a trade such as baking or furniture making.
The people who come out of the program would be “extraordinarily productive” and have a “second chance at life” after being “reparented,” Kennedy said.
Sewell pointed out that the U.S. has a long and painful history of separating Black children from their families due to slavery, Jim Crow laws, discriminatory policing, and bias in child welfare systems.
“So, you are not a doctor, have no formal medical training, and you’ve never parented a Black child,” she said. “And yet you are suggesting that the federal government should take Black children away from their families and reparent them, and send them off to some wellness farm instead of providing them with evidence-based…”
“You’re just making stuff up,” Kennedy interrupted her.
“I am absolutely not making this up,” Sewell replied.
She then asked what factors the federal government should take into account when deciding whether to “re-parent” a Black child.
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Kennedy insisted. “I don’t know what re-parenting is.”
“I don’t either, but you said that,” Sewell repeated.
“I did not say that,” he insisted.
The Daily Beast has reached out to HHS for comment.
Last month, the White House moved to rein in Kennedy’s more extreme rhetoric, including his anti-vaccine crusading, over concerns that it could hurt Republicans’ already dicey chances in the November midterms.
Polling shows that Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” supporters are turning against the Trump administration over its failure to reduce pesticides, regulate forever chemicals, and lower health care costs.
