RFK Jr., challenges Pete Hegseth to friendly exercise competition as Trump admin promotes ‘fit' over ‘fat'
The two squared off to notch 50 pullups and 100 pushups in under five minutes while surrounded by military members of the Navy and Marines, video first shared with Fox News Digital shows.
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'We had our big Pete and Bobby challenge today, 50 pull ups. 100 push-ups. You try to get under five minutes,' Kennedy said while wearing his typical gym attire of jeans and a T-shirt.
The challenge comes as Kennedy unleashes the 'Make America Healthy Again' movement, which includes promoting that Americans eat whole foods versus processed meals, and Hegseth rallies the US military to be the most fit and well-equipped to handle defending the nation.
'Completely unacceptable,' Hegseth posted on X in response to a headline declaring two-thirds of the military is overweght. 'This is what happens when standards are IGNORED — and this is what we are changing. REAL fitness & weight standards are here. We will be FIT, not FAT.'
The pair squared-off to see who could beat the five-minute challenge, with Hegseth coming in just over the five-minute mark but defeating Kennedy.
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4 HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went head to head with Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth in the 'Pete and Bobby challenge' to promote exercising.
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4 The challenge consists of completing 50 pullups and 100 pushups in under five minutes.
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'We got close. I was about 5:25,' Hegseth said in the video. 'You were right behind me,' he added referring to the HHS chief, who is 71 years old.
Hegseth remarked that a few of the Marines in the gym at the time beat the challenge and came in under four minutes, while one other completed the challenge in under three minutes.
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'It was President Trump who inspired us to do this,' Kennedy said in the video shared with Fox Digital. 'This is the beginning of our tour, challenging Americans to get back in shape, eat better, but also, you need to get out and exercise.'
4 The two Trump administration officials were cheered on by US military members.
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The pair also challenged another Cabinet member to join them in the competition: Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.
'Secretary Duffy, you're invited to do the Pete and Bobby challenge. Can you do it in under five minutes? 50 pull-ups, 100 push-ups. What do you think?' Hegseth asked in the video as the pair chuckled.
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President Donald Trump has championed Kennedy's efforts encouraging Americans to cut out processed foods and get active through the MAHA movement, as well as repeatedly touting the U.S. military as 'without a doubt the greatest fighting force in the history of the world' under Hegseth's leadership.
4 Hegseth ended up beating Kennedy by finishing the challenge in just over five minutes.
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At the youth level, Trump reinstated the Presidential Fitness Test and the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition for American schoolchildren after former President Barack Obama retired it in favor of the Presidential Youth Fitness Program.
Trump signed an executive order in July reestablishing the program and directed the council to launch 'school-based programs that reward excellence in physical education and develop criteria for a Presidential Fitness Award.'
'Thank you, President Trump, for setting the example. Presidential physical fitness. Make America Healthy Again. Fit, not fat. We're going to have a war-fighting force, young men and women who are prepared to defend the nation. We're doing it as a team. Join us,' Hegseth added in the video.
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