This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von

#639 - Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

February 12, 2026

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  • Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Theo Von share a history of being in recovery together for decades, meeting daily at 7 a.m. meetings. 
  • RFK Jr. detailed efforts within HHS to increase transparency, including using AI to revolutionize Freedom of Information Act requests and shifting NIH focus to chronic disease research while emphasizing replication. 
  • RFK Jr. highlighted significant fraud within Medicare/Medicaid (estimated at $100 billion stolen annually) and discussed new initiatives, including price transparency for medical procedures, to combat systemic issues. 
  • RFK Jr. claims his tenure as HHS Secretary has resulted in more accomplishments in a single year than any predecessor, focusing on dramatically changing the relationship between Americans and their healthcare system. 
  • HHS is implementing pilot programs (like STREET in eight locales) to address addiction by unifying agencies (VA, Labor, HUD, HHS) to provide continuous, accountable care trajectories for addicts, moving beyond fragmented, profit-driven systems. 
  • RFK Jr. identified several Republican Senators—Ron Johnson, Roger Marshall, Rand Paul, and Josh Hawley—as trustworthy figures who work across the aisle, noting that many former Democratic allies are now constrained by tribal politics. 

Segments

Sponsor Read and Guest Introduction
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: American Giant apparel is promoted using code ‘Theo’ for a 20% discount on the first order.
  • Summary: The host promotes American Giant sweatshirts, emphasizing they are built to last using American-grown cotton. Listeners can receive 20% off their first order using the code ‘Theo’ at American-giant.com. The guest is then introduced as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary for Health and Human Services.
Shared Recovery History
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(00:01:47)
  • Key Takeaway: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has maintained 43 years of sobriety through daily recovery meetings.
  • Summary: RFK Jr. and Theo Von established their friendship through attending the same 7 a.m. recovery meetings for years. RFK Jr. emphasized that attending meetings daily is essential for his survival, contrasting the risk of addiction with the perceived risk of germs during COVID-19. The core purpose of these meetings is helping other alcoholics, which keeps participants sober.
Tennessee Policy Wins
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(00:06:05)
  • Key Takeaway: Tennessee enacted a SNAP waiver restricting food stamp use on sugary items and banned certain food dyes.
  • Summary: RFK Jr. praised Tennessee Governor Bill Lee for actions including informing the public about fluoride in water and implementing a SNAP waiver that restricts spending on sodas and candy based on sugar content. The state also banned several food dyes, with the industry cooperating to replace them with vegetable dyes by the end of the year. The US allows chemicals in products like Fruit Loops that are banned in Europe and Canada.
Fluoride and IQ Concerns
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(00:08:28)
  • Key Takeaway: Systemic fluoride ingestion is linked to reduced IQ and bone mass, prompting Tennessee to ban its addition to public water.
  • Summary: The National Toxicology Program’s meta-analysis shows a dose-related IQ reduction from fluoride exposure. Fluoride’s benefit for tooth decay is topical, making systemic ingestion unnecessary now that fluoride toothpaste and mouthwash are available. Tennessee’s Fluoride Free Water Act prohibits adding fluoride to public drinking water or selling bottled water with added fluoride.
Pesticide Lawsuits and Farm Bill
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(00:10:37)
  • Key Takeaway: RFK Jr.’s lawsuits against Monsanto regarding glyphosate led to large jury awards based on evidence of concealed risks.
  • Summary: A Tennessee Farm Bill (HB 809) was proposed to limit lawsuits against pesticide companies if EPA labeling was approved, which drew backlash from figures like Sean Ryan and John Rich. RFK Jr. detailed winning multi-million dollar verdicts against Monsanto by showing internal documents proving they knew glyphosate caused cancer and colluded with EPA officials to suppress science. The industry remains dependent on glyphosate, but laser-weeding technology offers a potential future alternative.
HHS Transparency and Bureaucracy Cuts
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(00:18:19)
  • Key Takeaway: The administration is implementing AI to instantly process Freedom of Information Act requests and consolidating 40 communications departments to streamline HHS.
  • Summary: RFK Jr. confirmed that upon taking office, the workforce was reduced by 20,000 employees through buyouts and layoffs, primarily targeting bureaucracy and non-science divisions like DEI research. The goal is to shift NIH focus entirely to understanding and ending chronic disease by dedicating 20% of the budget to replicating existing scientific studies. This focus addresses a pipeline where scientists were incentivized to cheat because non-confirming results were never published or replicated.
Pharmaceutical Propaganda in Journals
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(00:29:27)
  • Key Takeaway: Major medical journals like the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet are considered propaganda vessels for pharmaceutical companies.
  • Summary: RFK Jr. stated that journal editors admit their publications cannot be fully trusted due to financial ties with pharmaceutical advertising and paid ‘preprints’ used to promote drugs to doctors. The administration is creating open-source journals that mandate public peer review and raw data availability to restore credibility to science, which thrives on debate, not consensus. This addresses historical failures, such as the 20-year scientific dead end caused by fraudulent amyloid plaque studies related to Alzheimer’s.
Medicare Fraud and Pay-and-Chase
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(00:35:00)
  • Key Takeaway: The previous administration utilized a ‘pay and chase’ system for fraud, whereas the current approach uses AI to prevent fraudulent payments upfront.
  • Summary: Tens of billions of dollars are stolen annually from Medicare and Medicaid through systemic fraud, including phony nursing groups and funding terrorist groups via phony autism care claims in Minnesota and California. The ‘pay and chase’ method involved paying fraudulent invoices and then attempting to recover funds, which was largely unsuccessful. AI is now being deployed to detect fraud in Medicare, preventing payments before they are issued, saving tens of billions this year alone.
Chronic Disease Epidemic Statistics
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(00:42:02)
  • Key Takeaway: The US has the highest chronic disease burden globally, evidenced by 77% of youth being medically unfit for military service.
  • Summary: America accounts for 19% of global COVID deaths despite having only 4.2% of the population, largely because the average COVID fatality had 3.8 chronic diseases. Juvenile diabetes rates among teens are now 38% (diabetic or pre-diabetic), and autism rates have skyrocketed from 1 in 10,000 in 1970 to 1 in 31 today. The cost of treating chronic disease is $4.3 trillion annually, consuming 40 cents of every federal tax dollar.
New Food Pyramid and Medical Education
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(00:46:50)
  • Key Takeaway: The new dietary guidelines took 11 months to create, focusing on whole foods, and the administration is mandating 40 hours of nutrition training for medical students.
  • Summary: The previous administration’s 453-page dietary guidelines were driven by commercial interests, exemplified by placing items like Fruit Loops at the top of the food pyramid. Nutrition experts spent 11 months developing the new, flipped pyramid based on gold-standard science, emphasizing vegetables and proteins. Currently, 80% of doctors feel incompetent to give nutrition advice because medical school focuses on pharmacology to treat sickness rather than diet to prevent it.
Healthcare Price Transparency
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(00:55:30)
  • Key Takeaway: Hospitals must soon publish prices for all procedures, enabling patients to shop for care and driving down absurd cost differentials.
  • Summary: New regulations mandate that hospitals publish prices for every procedure, effectively making patients the CEO of their own health by allowing them to compare costs, similar to using Gas Buddy. This is intended to eliminate the chaos where childbirth costs vary from $1,300 to $22,000 in the same geographic area due to a lack of market competition. Fines will be levied against hospitals that fail to comply with this price transparency requirement by the end of the year.
Tecovas and Morgan & Morgan Ads
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(01:01:34)
  • Key Takeaway: Morgan and Morgan offers a contingency fee structure where legal services are free unless they win compensation for the client.
  • Summary: Tecovas offers 10% off upon signing up for email and texts. Morgan and Morgan, America’s largest injury law firm, emphasizes that their fee is free unless they win a case. They have over 1,000 lawyers across more than 100 offices nationwide.
HHS Institutional Culture Change
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(01:03:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Changing the institutional culture within HHS requires sustained effort against internal obstruction, as political appointees are vastly outnumbered by career staff.
  • Summary: Price transparency and patient power are key areas being pushed, but internal agency staff obstruct change. With 82,000 employees and only 250 political appointees, leadership must reignite idealism within the bureaucracy to effect change. RFK Jr. compares turning the agency to turning a giant oil tanker.
Addiction Treatment Strategy
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(01:04:58)
  • Key Takeaway: The current addiction system financially benefits from keeping addicts sick, necessitating a unified, lifespan-focused accountability model.
  • Summary: HHS focuses on the medical costs of addiction, noting collateral damage like emergency room visits and associated illnesses. New pilot programs aim to coordinate agencies like the VA, Labor, and HUD to follow an addict from intervention through treatment, rehab, sober housing, and job stabilization. This contrasts with the current piecemeal system where accountability is easily avoided.
Trustworthy Political Figures
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(01:08:14)
  • Key Takeaway: RFK Jr. names several Republican Senators as trustworthy figures who support his issues, noting that many former Democratic friends are now constrained by tribalism.
  • Summary: RFK Jr. trusts many Congresspeople across the aisle but specifically names Senators Ron Johnson, Roger Marshall, Rand Paul, and Josh Hawley as fantastic or good on his issues. He notes that Democratic senators who were once friends are now locked into tribal narratives and cannot follow their conscience.
JFK File Release Context
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(01:10:10)
  • Key Takeaway: RFK Jr. initially requested President Trump withhold some JFK file documents to protect living individuals related to unrelated issues, but Trump insisted on releasing everything.
  • Summary: RFK Jr.’s daughter-in-law, Amarilla S. Fox Kennedy, who ran his campaign, is the Deputy Director of National Intelligence and was tasked by President Trump with releasing all JFK files. She has a background in the CIA and has been focused on this release for years.
Final Health Advice
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(01:13:04)
  • Key Takeaway: The singular piece of advice RFK Jr. offers the public is to eat real food that comes from the ground or water, emphasizing that food is medicine.
  • Summary: If food comes in a package, it should likely be avoided. Food sourced directly from the ground, water, or air is beneficial for health. A good diet has the power to heal the body.