Marco Rubio mocks Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s diet in podcast interview
The US secretary of state called the health secretary’s meat and fermented vegetable diet 'crazy' during an appearance with his wife
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio
U.S. Department of State via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photograph: U.S. Department of State via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
What this story says
- Marco Rubio called Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s diet of meat and fermented vegetables 'crazy' during a podcast interview on 11 August 2026.
- Rubio appeared with his wife Jeanette on 'The Katie Miller Podcast', where he also joked about his preference for Pop-Tarts.
- The digests disagree on whether Rubio’s remarks reflect a broader change in his opinion of Kennedy since joining the Trump administration.
- No outlet reported Kennedy’s response to Rubio’s comments.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 2 of the 8 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
48/100
Craft
47/100
Hype
45/100
8 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
Only 1 of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio mocked the diet of health and human services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a podcast interview on 11 August 2026. Rubio, appearing with his wife Jeanette on 'The Katie Miller Podcast', described Kennedy’s reported diet of meat and fermented vegetables as 'crazy'. The digests of the interview note that Rubio also joked about his preference for Pop-Tarts, calling them 'one of the great American innovations'.
The interview took place after Rubio and Kennedy began working together in the Trump administration. According to the digests, Rubio said he had previously thought Kennedy was 'crazy' based on what others had told him. The digests disagree on whether Rubio’s remarks signalled a shift in his view: ussanews.com reported that Rubio now says he believes 'half your stuff' about Kennedy, while other digests did not mention this.
Disagreement over the date of the interview
The digests disagree on when the interview took place. ussanews.com reported the date as 11 August 2026, while Fox News, democraticaccent.com and The Hill referred to it as occurring on 'Tuesday'. The discrepancy remains unresolved in the digests.
What the coverage left out
None of the digests reported a response from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or the health and human services department to Rubio’s comments. The left-rated and centre-rated digests did not mention Rubio’s wife Jeanette, who appeared with him on the podcast. The centre-rated digest did not include Rubio’s remarks about Pop-Tarts.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 6 times, most recently on 13 Aug 2026, 12:30, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
1 rated outlet
- The Daily Beast’s digest led on Rubio’s criticism of Kennedy’s diet, describing it as a 'brutal dig'. The digest noted that Rubio made clear he had not adopted Kennedy’s dietary habits, but did not mention Rubio’s comments about Pop-Tarts or his wife’s presence.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The Hill’s digest focused on Rubio’s description of Kennedy’s diet as 'crazy'. It noted that Rubio and his wife Jeanette appeared on 'The Katie Miller Podcast', but did not mention Rubio’s remarks about Pop-Tarts or any shift in his opinion of Kennedy.
Right
4 rated outlets
- The four right-rated digests all led on Rubio’s mockery of Kennedy’s diet. ussanews.com reported that Rubio’s view of Kennedy had changed since they began working together, quoting Rubio as saying he now believes 'half your stuff' about him. democraticaccent.com, Fox News and American Wire News highlighted Rubio’s joke about Pop-Tarts, with democraticaccent.com and Fox News quoting him calling them 'one of the great American innovations'. American Wire News included a video clip of the interview, but the digests did not describe its content.
Read it at the source
8 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
1Centre
1Right
4- Before meeting RFK Jr, Marco Rubio thought he was ‘crazy’; Now he says, ‘I believe half your stuff’ about him (opens ussanews.com in a new tab)
ussanews.com — is ussanews.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Rubio rejects RFK's 'crazy' diet, jokes Pop-Tarts are 'one of the great American innovations' – Democratic Accent (opens democraticaccent.com in a new tab)
democraticaccent.com — is democraticaccent.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Rubio rejects RFK's 'crazy' diet, jokes Pop-Tarts are 'one of the great American innovations' (opens Fox News in a new tab)
- Rubio has hilarious response to RFK Jr.'s 'crazy' diet, but then his wife exposes his · American Wire News (opens American Wire News in a new tab)
American Wire News — is American Wire News biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
2- Rubio jokes about Pop-Tarts as he dismisses Kennedy's diet on podcast (opens Tippahnews.com in a new tab)
Tippahnews.com — is Tippahnews.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Rubio Critique Diet MAHA by Kennedy Jr.: "A Madness. It Is Not Sustainable" (opens Noticias ao Minuto in a new tab)
Noticias ao Minuto — is Noticias ao Minuto biased? Our profile of this outlet
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Marco Rubio mocks Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s diet in podcast interview?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 17% are rated left, 16% are rated centre, 67% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 8. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Marco Rubio mocks Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s diet in podcast interview left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Marco Rubio mocks Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s diet in podcast interview biased?
- Marco Rubio mocks Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s diet in podcast interview is one event reported by 8 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Marco Rubio mocks Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s diet in podcast interview?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Marco Rubio mocks Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s diet in podcast interview?
- 8 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did Marco Rubio say about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s diet?
- Marco Rubio called Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s diet of meat and fermented vegetables 'crazy' during a podcast interview on 11 August 2026. He also joked about his preference for Pop-Tarts, calling them 'one of the great American innovations'. The digests reported his remarks but did not include Kennedy’s response.
- Did Marco Rubio’s opinion of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. change?
- The digests disagree on this. ussanews.com reported that Rubio said he now believes 'half your stuff' about Kennedy after they began working together in the Trump administration. Other digests did not mention a shift in Rubio’s view.
- Which outlets reported on Marco Rubio’s podcast appearance?
- Eight outlets carried digests of the story, including The Daily Beast (left), The Hill (centre), and four right-rated outlets: ussanews.com, democraticaccent.com, Fox News and American Wire News. None published a full report, so the wording and framing are not directly attributable to the outlets.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
