After Whoopi Goldberg, a co-host on ABC’s “The View” went wild attacking Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a panel of Fox News Channel personalities on its program “Outnumbered” schooled her, showing just how ridiculous her allegations of “fat shaming” were.
As background, Mr. Kennedy has focused a great deal of energy on showing the issues with America’s approach to food and its food supply, particularly as regards certain controversial and potentially dangerous ingredients, such as certain artificial food dyes, and agricultural chemicals used in food production.
Speaking recently about the cost of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and contrasting that with just reforming the food supply and getting people to eat healthier, he said, “Most people with diabetes or prediabetic can be cured with good food. If they choose instead to be cured by Ozempic, the government then pays $1,500 a month for the rest of their lives and with a fraction of that, we can give everybody organic foods, three meals a day in the country.”
Those comments about the food supply set Whoopi off. Speaking about RFK Jr’s opinions on “The View,” she declared that the problem is larger than food because some people are born larger than others. She said, on that note, “This isn’t just about food. This is – sometimes people are born genetically larger.”
She added, attacking him in harsh terms, “You are setting folks up for shame. That’s what you’re trying – maybe you don’t know what you’re doing. I’m gonna give you the benefit of the doubt. I’m gonna say you don’t know, and you don’t realize what you do to people when you say stuff like that, because it doesn’t work for everybody.”
FNC “Outnumbered” panelist Dr. Nicole Saphier responded to those comments and slammed Whoopi’s claims, arguing that they’re not particularly accurate. She said, “I see everybody’s insides and outside, and I can tell you that we actually are – the far majority of us – created equally when it comes to our insides.”
Continuing, she noted that while Whoopi is correct in one way, really it is RFK Jr. whose point is relevant here. She said, “Now, Whoopi Goldberg is correct when she said there are some genetic and familial predispositions to people being overweight, specifically metabolic syndrome and some others, but RFK, Jr. is also correct, and I apologize, but the truth hurts. A lot of it has to do with lifestyle factors.”
Still not done, the doctor went on to argue that food matters and good food is, unfortunately, quite expensive. She said, “Unfortunately, what you see, especially in low-income areas, access to healthy foods is just not there, they’re certainly not affordable. They don’t get to go to the local market to get organic foods, in fact, they get the highly processed cheap stuff.”
On that same note, she added that unhealthy eating can be a cycle people get into, saying, “That unfortunately, is what puts us into this dangerous cycle of unhealthy eating. It’s not necessarily because they are gluttonous, or they’re wanting to run their own health or their body or their lifestyles, but that is what they can access and they can afford.” Watch them here:
She wasn’t the only one. Also chiming in was FNC’s Harris Faulkner. She said, commenting on the importance of having a healthy lifestyle and how other things can fit in as well, “The first line response should be: lifestyle. It should be eating well, making sure that you don’t get obese. And that those [weight loss] drugs have a place.”
Fox News anchor Julie Banderas chimed in as well, roasting Whoopi by saying, “How stupid do you have to be to not understand that being overweight is unhealthy?” She continued, “This isn’t fat shaming, this is wanting a healthy America. Right now we have an obese America. The numbers of overweight people in this country are astronomical. I, too, have lost weight. I remember what it felt like to be overweight, it was an awful feeling, so I can speak on behalf of those that have been struggling with weight loss and yo-yo dieting my entire life, it sucks.”
She added, “I mean it does not feel comfortable, but you feel so much healthier. Get out there and exercise! That’s what parents need to be teaching kids. Kids are on their iPads, they’re on their iPhones. We’re raising future fat kids! Honestly, and I’m not fat shaming, I just see so many children that are overweight, and I think that’s so unhealthy.”
Featured image credit: Democratizemedia, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RFK_Jr_Long_Island_Rally_05.jpg
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