Kennedy on Dr. Phil: Why We’re the Sickest Nation on Earth

By Emilie Hagen, Contributing Writer, The Kennedy Beacon

Everything is bigger in Texas, and right now, that includes the growing momentum behind the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.

On a live Town Hall broadcast Monday from Merit TV in Fort Worth, Texas, talk show host and psychologist, Dr. Phil McGraw, welcomed Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for an exclusive 90-minute Town Hall interview to mark President Trump’s first 100 days in office.

“Tonight, I’m sitting down with a man who refuses to be silenced," Dr. Phil announced, proudly introducing the new HHS Secretary to his packed studio audience.

"This is a man who has walked through fire – personally, politically, professionally."

The crowd gave Kennedy a standing ovation as he took the stage. Dr. Phil, surprised, joked, “What am I? Chopped liver?” before settling into an unscripted interview, addressing problems most talk show hosts refuse to touch on live television.

For once the interviewer wasn’t there fishing for “gotchas” or soundbites to keep Big Pharma sponsors happy. Dr. Phil came to listen, to learn — and to crack the foundation of the rigged, diseased empire that's been feeding on America for decades.

Kennedy’s Journey to the White House

The interview began by tracing Kennedy’s unconventional path from environmental law to public health. Kennedy described how he spent years building one of the largest clean water organizations in the world, Waterkeeper Alliance, only to be "dragged kicking and screaming" into vaccine safety advocacy after publishing a controversial 2005 Rolling Stone article about thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative in vaccines.

“This was literally the worst career choice that I could have made," Kennedy said. "I lost friends immediately. I lost a lot of family members. I lost a lot of my allies in the environmental movement, relationships I built, political allies I built up my whole life, but I kept working on the issue.”

Kennedy added, “It was only by hook and crook — and divine providence — that I ended up here.”

Dr. Phil was quick to point out that “here” wasn’t just any place – it was the top job in American health.

As the nation’s official health authority, Kennedy now oversees roughly 62,000 employees and a staggering $1.7 trillion budget — nearly a third of all federal spending. The two discussed the daunting task ahead, emphasizing the paradox at the heart of the U.S. healthcare system: despite spending two to three times more per capita on healthcare than any other country, America remains one of the sickest nations in the developed world.

“We are literally the sickest people in the world," Kennedy said flatly.

America’s Covid Catastrophe

RFK Jr. didn’t hold back criticizing America’s pandemic response.

“During Covid, we had the highest death rate from Covid of any country in the world,” said Kennedy. “We had 16% of the Covid deaths in the United States and we only have 4.2% of the world’s population.”

To Kennedy, the numbers speak for themselves. “It’s a mystery why people are getting awards for managing Covid in this country when we literally did worse than any country in the world,” he quipped.

When asked how the CDC explains America’s pandemic failure, Kennedy didn’t miss a beat: “‘It’s not our fault — it’s because Americans are so sick,’” he mimicked. “Which, by the way… is their fault.” The audience gave him a round of applause for calling out the CDC on live air.

He cited CDC data showing that most Americans who died from Covid-19 had serious preexisting chronic illnesses. Kennedy blamed the rise of chronic diseases on a failing food system, rampant environmental toxins, and a healthcare industry he said is more focused on profit than prevention.

According to Kennedy, teen fertility rates are plummeting. Testosterone levels in teenage boys have dropped to half that of a 68-year-old man. Girls are hitting puberty early, from 10-13 years-old. Meanwhile, 74% of American youth are unfit for military service due to chronic health issues, which he called a national security issue.

America vs. the World: The Healthcare Divide

On April 24, Kennedy met with Indonesia’s health minister, who shared a striking statistic: Indonesia spends just $3,300 per patient annually on healthcare and boasts an average life expectancy of 84. In contrast, the United States spends a staggering $12,000 per person and only manages a life expectancy of 79.

Kennedy pointed out that America once had life expectancy on par with Europe, but now trails by six years.

“When my uncle was president, we spent zero dollars treating chronic disease in this country,” he said. “Today, 95% of what we’re spending on healthcare is going to treat chronic disease.”

He warned that this shift is destroying the U.S. economy. “Healthcare costs rise every year by 2% – greater than the economy is growing,” he claimed. “We cannot keep this up. It’s existential,” Kennedy added, pointing out that it’s even having a crippling effect on how we do business in America.

The Business of Disease

Sky-high healthcare costs are now reshaping American industry, too. Employers can’t afford to insure their workers, so they have no choice but to outsource labor.

“It’s crippling our businesses. It’s crippling our country,” Kennedy continued. “We have to figure out how to reverse this trend.”

The American Diet: Poison in Disguise

Much of the interview centered on the American diet. Dr. Phil and RFK Jr. compared American food products to European versions, showing stark differences — particularly in the use of dyes, chemicals, and artificial softeners.

While he was explaining the dangers of consuming artificial fruit flavors meant to mimic fruits like strawberries, Kennedy’s phone started buzzing loudly through his suit pocket. The audience erupted with laughter.

Later in the episode, when Kennedy’s phone went off again, he asked Dr. Phil if it was his phone ringing this time.

“I don’t bring my phone to the stage,” Dr. Phil teased.

Kennedy snapped back into serious mode: he explained how additives are designed to create insatiable eating habits, leaving Americans obese and malnourished.

"We're literally eating poison," Kennedy said.

“It’s not just obesity," he added. "It’s also diabetes. When I was a kid, a pediatrician might see one case of juvenile diabetes in a lifetime. Today, 38% of American teenagers are diabetic or pre-diabetic.”

Kennedy noted that this crisis is even spreading internationally.

"Twenty years ago, diabetes was rare in China,” Kennedy noted. “Today, over 50% of Chinese adults are diabetic or pre-diabetic," blaming the surge on the rapid expansion of 20,000 fast-food chains installed across China.

Kennedy also pointed to corporations profiting from the disease epidemic and called out the censorship he experienced on Meta during the Biden administration, praising Elon Musk and X (formerly Twitter) for allowing open dialogue around MAHA topics.

Addressing Controversial Autism Comments

Dr. Phil gave RFK Jr. the opportunity to address the elephant in the room: his recent comments about autism – which were mischaracterized in numerous viral posts.

Kennedy clarified that he had been speaking specifically about a small subset of individuals with profound autism: those who are non-verbal, non-toilet trained, and profoundly disabled — a group that makes up about 26% of the autism population.

"I was only speaking about those with profound autism," Kennedy explained.

He emphasized that he has long advocated for these underserved families and criticized media outlets and political figures, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, for deliberately misrepresenting his remarks by excerpting from his speech out of context.

"I get a lot of flack, and I have for 20 years," Kennedy said, used to the media twisting his words. "But when I see what these families go through, I feel very, very fortunate for my life."

RFK Jr. described the pain these families feel – "suffering at a level that is almost incomprehensible."

Despite the backlash online, this small group of parents overwhelmingly showed him support after the controversy, including from my colleague, Louis Conte.

"Finally, someone is recognizing what we’re living through," he said they told him, feeling, for once, that their voices were represented at the national level.

Dr. Phil understood his intent immediately: he had just hosted a MAHA-focused special, sponsored by AVPAC [which funds The Kennedy Beacon], that featured parents raising profoundly autistic children. One mother shared the raw, daily challenges of raising a child with profound autism – stories rarely given airtime.

Kennedy's Priorities

Before wrapping the interview, Dr. Phil asked Kennedy what his number one priority is right now. He mentioned three: "Getting bad ingredients out of food, making vaccines safer, and ensuring baby formula is safe and available.”

The crowd let out one last round of applause, not just for Kennedy, but for the hope the two men stirred back to life.

For a country long disillusioned by broken promises and a failing health system, it wasn’t just what Kennedy said, it was the sense that, maybe this time, someone might actually fight for them.

Kennedy ended with a dose of realism. He reminded the audience that many positions at HHS are still being filled. He knows Rome wasn’t built in a day — and he understands America won’t be rebuilt in one either. Kennedy believes that providing the American people with valuable, well-researched information will be crucial to changing the landscape as he begins putting his plans into action.

Dr. Phil praised Kennedy’s relentlessness in fighting for public health reform, calling him “a restless advocate” for what he believes is right, even in the face of intense criticism. Kennedy, in turn, thanked Dr. Phil for being one of the few media figures who is helping drive positive momentum to the MAHA movement.

The full episode, now streaming on Merit TV’s X page, is one of the few places you’ll hear the new HHS Secretary speak in full – not spliced and diced to fit corporate agendas. No spin. No scripts. Just the full conversation legacy media doesn’t want you to hear.