Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was interrupted during a White House media appearance on Wednesday, Jan. 7 — not by a protest or a briefing-room commotion, but by a duck.
Kennedy spoke alongside Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, national nutrition adviser Ben Carson, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt as they introduced President Donald Trump’s plan to overhaul — and invert — the food pyramid.
“Protein and healthy fats are an essential,” Kennedy, 71, said. “We are ending the war on saturated fats. Diets rich in vegetables and fruits reduce disease risk more effectively than any drugs.”
“My message is clear: eat real food,” he continued. “Nothing matters more for healthcare outcomes, economic productivity, military readiness and fiscal stability.”
As Kennedy spoke, laughter broke out in the room when a duck quacking sound grew louder. Kennedy reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone — the source of the noise.
“Duck is high in protein, that’s also interesting,” Rollins joked as Kennedy silenced the ringtone. “Duck is a good thing to eat, everybody.”
Oz then stepped in to help, taking the phone from Kennedy and telling the caller they would return the call.
Kennedy has faced criticism in recent days after the Department of Health and Human Services announced a significant change to vaccine mandates for children just hours before the Jan. 5 funeral service for Tatiana Schlossberg, the daughter of his cousin Caroline Kennedy.
Schlossberg, who died on Dec. 30 at age 35, disclosed her terminal cancer diagnosis in an essay published in The New Yorker in November 2025. In the piece, she sharply criticized her Trump-aligned cousin, calling him “an embarrassment to me and the rest of my immediate family.”
She also took aim at Kennedy’s views on vaccines, writing about how his appointment affected her perspective on the healthcare system during her final months.
“Suddenly, the health-care system on which I relied felt strained, shaky,” Schlossberg wrote. “Doctors and scientists at Columbia, including George, didn’t know if they would be able to continue their research, or even have jobs.”
She continued, “Bobby is a known skeptic of vaccines, and I was especially concerned that I wouldn’t be able to get mine again, leaving me to spend the rest of my life immunocompromised, along with millions of cancer survivors, small children, and the elderly.”
Schlossberg’s funeral was attended by her immediate family, including her parents and siblings, Rose and Jack, as well as her husband, urologist George Moran, and their two young children — son Edwin and daughter Josephine.
Other members of the Kennedy family in attendance included Kerry Kennedy, Joe Kennedy III, and Maria Shriver, who was seen leaving the service with three of her four children: Christopher, Christina, and Katherine Schwarzenegger.
