Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and musician Kid Rock ignited a social media firestorm on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, when they released a shirtless workout video titled “Rock Out Work Out.” Within 24 hours, the bizarre promotional content had racked up more than 11 million views on X.
The 90-second clip, shared by Kennedy’s official government account, features the 72-year-old cabinet secretary and the 55-year-old rocker exercising together in what appears to be an all-wood lodge, set to Kid Rock’s 1999 hit “Bawitdaba.” The footage captures the pair engaging in sit-ups, pickleball, and stationary biking in a sauna—with Kennedy sporting blue jeans throughout, including during a cold plunge.
“I’ve teamed up with @KidRock to deliver two simple messages to the American people: GET ACTIVE + EAT REAL FOOD,” Kennedy wrote in the post.
The video wraps up with both men sitting shirtless in a hot tub, clinking glasses of whole milk as the words “WHOLE MILK” flash across the screen. At one point, Kid Rock flips off the camera. The production leans heavily into patriotic imagery: a taxidermied bear wearing a bedazzled fedora, an American flag, a miniature Statue of Liberty, plus quick cuts of a shark, military jet, and bald eagle.
The promotional video drew swift mockery from commentators across the political spectrum. USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke offered biting commentary, joking about his annual fitness resolution to “find a washed-up late-90s rock star” for shirtless workouts followed by hot tub milk drinking.
Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served as White House director of strategic communications during President Donald Trump’s first term and now co-hosts “The View,” captured the collective bewilderment: “What the [bleep] did I just watch?”
The production represents Kennedy’s latest effort to promote his Make America Healthy Again initiative, which encourages Americans to drink whole milk, maintain a high-protein diet, and stay physically active. Kennedy, a prominent vaccine skeptic, told USA TODAY’s “The Excerpt” podcast that he follows a carnivore diet, eating only meat and fermented foods.
The video’s release comes nine days after Kid Rock, a longtime Trump ally, headlined Turning Point USA’s “All-American Halftime Show”—a conservative alternative broadcast during Bad Bunny’s official Super Bowl LX halftime performance. The event drew over 4 million concurrent viewers on YouTube. Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again Super Bowl commercial also made waves, featuring Mike Tyson—who served three years in prison after his 1992 rape conviction—urging Americans to avoid processed foods with the stark message “Processed Food Kills.”
During a recent podcast appearance with Theo Von, Kennedy discussed his past struggles with drug addiction, stating he has been in recovery for more than 40 years. The health secretary made headlines when he revealed he once snorted cocaine off toilet seats, adding that he’s “not scared of a germ.” He also joked about saving a seat for Kid Rock at his rehabilitation meetings.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officially reshared the video on February 17, captioning it “BawitMAHA”—a play on Kid Rock’s song title and Kennedy’s health initiative. Critics have described the production as everything from an unintentional PSA about the risks of drinking whole milk after workouts to what some called an “extremely niche fetish video.”
The video shows Kennedy and Kid Rock preparing food together in a kitchen, cruising in a convertible, and posing next to taxidermied animals throughout the lodge. Kennedy’s commitment to wearing jeans during every activity—the cold plunge, the sauna workout, the pickleball match, and the final pool scene—generated particular fascination among viewers.
In his column addressing the video, Huppke noted he would like to see a follow-up showing the lodge receiving a proper disinfecting, and questioned the judgment of an organization run by someone he describes as a prominent vaccine skeptic.
The video has become one of the most discussed pieces of government-produced content in recent memory—though not for the health-conscious reasons Kennedy likely intended when launching his fitness initiative.