Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr may be skeptical about the benefits of vaccines, but he appears to think professional wresting is real.
During a recent interview with NewsNation, Kennedy and World Wrestling Entertainment Chief Content Officer and former star Paul “Triple H” Levesque were asked about the return of the Presidential Fitness Test for school-aged children.
“I think it was a huge mistake [to end the Presidential Fitness Test], I mean look at our kids, we literally have the sickest population in the world,” Kennedy told NewsNation.
NewsNation’s Morning in America anchor Anna Kooiman noted that the test was originally criticized for potentially undermining the self-worth of less athletic children. She asked Kennedy how the renewed test might take those concerns into consideration.
“Failure is a part of life. Listen, the great thing about WWE, that’s so inspiring, is that all of these guys have failed. Every one of them has lost fights,” Kennedy said. “The trick is how do you persuade yourself to stand back up and fight again?”
While the athleticism of the wrestlers and the stunts they perform are real, WWE fight outcomes are, of course, scripted.
“You know, that’s the beauty of WWE. You lose sometimes but you win sometimes. But if you keep sticking at it, you’re ultimately going to come out on top,” RFK Jr said.
The man who actually decides who wins and who loses was sitting to his left; Levesque. As chief content officer of WWE, it’s his job to oversee the creative end of the product, which includes working with writers to come up with storyline and working with the wrestlers, including making decisions on who will win.
Levesque, who was a 14-time world champion in WWE, also defended the reintroduction of the test.
“We’re rewarding effort, not just the upper end of success,” Levesque said. “It’s incredibly important for us to teach kids to support the kid that can’t do it…you don’t bully them, you don’t make fun of them.”
In addition to his work at WWE, Levesque was named the vice chair of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition in 2026.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in May reviving the Presidential Fitness Test. The test was eliminated in 2013 under the Obama administration and replaced with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program.
Kennedy said part of the reason for restoring the older test is because American youth are experiencing a “chronic disease crisis.”
He also pointed out that 77 percent of young Americans could not qualify to serve in the military under its current acceptance standards.
The Presidential Fitness Test returned to schools in May 2026.
The Independent has requested comment from Kennedy.
