Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth competed in the "Pete and Bobby challenge" at the DoD. (HHS)
"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.
"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 under three minutes.
TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER TO REESTABLISH PRESIDENTIAL FITNESS TEST
"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."
President Donald Trump has championed his administration's Make America Healthy Again project, which included establishing a commission to examine the root causes of chronic diseases. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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."
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"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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