CHARLES TOWN, W.V. – Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said this week it was fitting he chose Martinsburg, West Virginia, for his first trip to promote the “MAHA” agenda, saying his iconic political family has a unique history in the Mountain State.
Kennedy recalled former New York Democratic Gov. Al Smith – in whose honor a famous annual Catholic Archdiocese-affiliated dinner is held in New York City – and how he incidentally forced the country to reckon with anti-Catholic biases.
Despite being a popular governor in New York who preceded President Franklin Roosevelt in Albany, Kennedy noted Smith’s foray into the presidential arena led to political strife and “a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan” in parts of the South.
Smith lost to Republican President Herbert Hoover “catastrophically,” Kennedy said – as Smith had only won Massachusetts, Rhode Island, five Deep South states and running-mate Sen. Joseph Robinson’s Arkansas.
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“And people all felt, the pundits all felt, that America would never elect a Catholic president,” Kennedy said.
So when John F. Kennedy ran for president in 1960, his nephew recalled, the Massachusetts Democrat knew he had to win West Virginia – the state with a then-record-low 2% Catholic population, and where much of the anti-Smith vote in the region during the 1928 cycle came from.
“It was critical for my uncle’s campaign that he win this state to show the country that a Catholic could win the presidency,” Kennedy said.
“He came down in West Virginia, and his objective was to shake the hands of every person in West Virginia. And I think he came very close.”
“And my parents came down; my uncle, my aunts – luckily we have a lot of Kennedys” – he interjected to audience laughter – “and they spent time really getting to know the people of West Virginia and understanding the issues in the state and problems and those things stayed with them throughout his presidency and on Election Day.”
JFK ultimately beat Republican Richard Nixon by seven points in the Mountain State, considered a major upset.
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“He always believed that he would not be president if he had not won this state – and he never forgot that relationship; that bond that he had for the people of this state.”
Kennedy said that prior to becoming HHS secretary, much of his anti-pollution work took him to West Virginia, particularly coal country in the southern part of the state.
Now, he said, his new role allows him to continue fighting a different type of pollution and “giving people a chance to live healthier lives.”
At the event, he and Gov. Patrick Morrisey unveiled a first-in-the-nation policy banning food dyes and certain preservatives in school lunches, with a statewide sunset in 2028.
Morrisey also signed a document seeking a waiver from Kennedy’s office to prohibit SNAP food stamps from being used to buy soda, and instituting work requirements for eligibility.
“Today we’re here to focus on making West Virginia healthy,” Morrisey told reporters after Kennedy’s speech.
He went on to unveil an “order” of sorts implementing the “Mountaineer Mile,” and added the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement officially began in West Virginia that afternoon.
West Virginia is first in obesity rates, with the nearby District of Columbia considered 51st and therefore the healthiest by that metric. Morrisey said he and Kennedy want to change that.
“We’re cleaning up our foods, promoting exercise, and putting the ‘Nutrition’ back into SNAP,” the governor said.
He also instituted the Mountaineer Mile initiative – urging every Mountaineer to walk at least one mile each day.
To that end, Morrisey posted photos on social media of the sunset view from his own Mountaineer Miles walked near his home in the evenings since.
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