Robert F. Kennedy joins Gov. Kevin Stitt to roll out "Make Oklahoma Healthy Again" campaign

Sam Royka and Paxson Haws The Norman Transcript
Jun 26, 2025

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jr. joined Gov. Kevin Stitt Thursday at the state capitol to roll out the state’s “Make Oklahoma Healthy Again” campaign.

The “Make America Healthy Again” campaign is an order created by President Donald Trump with the stated purpose of increasing life expectancy for Americans and addressing chronic diseases in children. It also includes a goal of restoring “the integrity of science” yet Kennedy has discussed defunding research groups like the National Institute of Health.

The Oklahoma version was launched Thursday with Kennedy’s visit.

Health secretary Kennedy’s controversial moves and statements have sparked debate across the country as he moves to defund research at the National Institute of Health and claims vaccines can be deadly.

“The average American who dies from COVID has 3.8 chronic diseases,” Kennedy said to a crowd of supporters and protestors in the capitol building Thursday. “We have to change that system.”

He also mentioned an increasing early puberty in girls, beginning up to six years early.

“Teenage boys have half the testosterone and half the sperm count of 65 year old men,” he said.

Kennedy also expressed doubt about the current overall health of children.

“Seventy percent of American kids can’t qualify for military service,” he said.

Sharon D’Souza, a radiologist on the Tulsa County Medical Society board and part of Physicians for Patient Protection, drove down from Tulsa Thursday morning. She said that she and other doctors came to protest even though it takes time away from their hospitals.

“We drove here from Tulsa this morning, because even though it is somewhat last minute, this cannot go unanswered,” she said. “We are all taking time out of the hospital, the clinic, the reading room, to be here and we are doing it because we think this isn’t making Oklahomans healthier. It’s the exact opposite.”

Though controversy over the health secretary’s actions abounds, not all physicians disagree with every one of his opinions.

Dorothy Thadani, a retired physician, said that the artificial food dyes are one thing they agree on.

“The food additives and some of the things that we do not control do not have to go through FDA approval,” she said.

However, Thadani said they disagree strongly with Kennedy’s other platforms.

“We are just disagreeing with some of the things that he says. We feel that, yes, we do want to make America healthy again. Yeah, or healthier. We are pretty healthy,” she said. “The people who can afford it are healthy. Ones who are not as advantaged can’t afford it. So, yeah, we want to make America healthy again too, but we think there are different ways of doing it,” Thadani said.

She said research and education are top priorities and should not be defunded.

“I don’t believe that stopping research, scientific research, defunding the NIH and defunding research studies that are already in progress is the way to do it.

We don’t believe that not vaccinating our kids is the way to do it,” she said.

Stitt, who introduced Kennedy, lauded changes to the state’s nutrition campaign, specifically its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“You know I want to be Top 10 in everything we do and that is also healthy families in Oklahoma,” Stitt said. “So today, I’m proud to announce that the team at Oklahoma DHA has submitted a waiver for SNAP benefits in Oklahoma. So our tax dollars are not going to continue to fund foods that are making people sick.”

Stitt said the waiver is on the desk of USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins desk and is asking the USDA to allow the state to take “soda, candy and confectionary items” off the SNAP list.

He added that the state is going to work with the USDA to promote healthy eating for families on SNAP benefits.

“Eating healthy foods today is going to reduce health care spending and dietary related illnesses later on in life,” Stitt said. 

Stitt signed an executive order that “continues to promote health in our state” during the event and announced he has instructed the Oklahoma State Department of Health to stop recommending fluoride in the state’s water. He added cities and water districts can still make their own decisions based on the constitutions and science but fluoride will no longer be recommended by the state health department.

State agencies that provide meals, including school meals or prison meals, have been instructed to discontinue the use of artificial dyes. An advisory council will be created to study and recommend other changes that can “make and improve the health outcomes” across the state, according to Stitt.

Emily Gordon, a 17-year-old from Arcadia, attended the campaign announcement in support of RFK Jr. and the “Make Oklahoma Healthy Again” campaign. Gordon, who said she is unvaccinated, has been keeping track of Kennedy’s movements for a while.

“ It was really incredible for me to see him today,” Gordon said. “I’ve been following a lot of his decisions as Health Secretary and it was really exciting to see him making a lot of decisions.”

Gordon said she also supports the announcement from Stitt regarding the changes to SNAP benefits, adding that she does not think taxpayers should be paying for other people to eat unhealthy foods.

“ Snap is something for, I think, dire circumstances where you cannot pay for your own food,” Gordon said. “And if you can’t… I do believe there should be government assistance help with that because food’s a necessity. But I don’t believe you should be spending that government money on things like candy or soft drinks or things like that, that just aren’t necessary and that will hurt your body.”

However, many in attendance, including doctors from across the state, attended the launch to protest Stitt and Kennedy’s decisions and information.

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