The health secretary seemed stoic — maybe nervous, even — at the start of his first major trip. But on a hike with Navajo Nation leaders, he was finally in his element.
The sun was bursting through the sandstone arch of Window Rock in northeastern Arizona, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in bluejeans, was finally in his element: on a hike.
It was the last day of his multistate Make American Healthy Again tour, designed to highlight various aspects of Mr. Kennedy’s plan to fight chronic disease, such as healthy school lunches and medical clinics that take a holistic approach to patient care.
Now, the health secretary was strolling with the president of Navajo Nation, delegates of the nation’s council and the acting director of the Indian Health Service, discussing the challenges of providing high-quality health care to tribal groups. Here, weaving through the desert brush, Mr. Kennedy seemed to be hitting his stride.
Mr. Kennedy had left Washington with questions growing about his handling of a measles outbreak in West Texas and the firing of thousands of Department of Health and Human Services employees. On his way out West, he had to make a stop in Texas on Sunday to attend the funeral of an unvaccinated 8-year-old girl, the second child to die of measles in this outbreak.
And at the start of the tour the next day, Mr. Kennedy had seemed stoic — maybe nervous, even — as he was led through a Salt Lake City health center focused on nutritious diets. He declined a bag of fresh groceries, citing his upcoming flight. In the “training kitchen,” he dropped an ice cube, dribbled a mango lassi and stood expressionless as a medical student reached to activate the secretary’s food processor without putting the lid on. (An administrator stopped her just in time.)
“That would have been bad,” the student said, glancing at the secretary’s white shirt and pressed suit. At last, Mr. Kennedy cracked a smile.