What To Know
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced criticism from CNN after the network disputed his claim that healthy meals could be made for under $5 per serving.
- CNN’s investigation found that recreating one of Kennedy’s featured meals cost over $70.
- Kennedy lashed out at the network and host Erin Burnett after the report aired.
White House health secretary and new cooking show host Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a meltdown on Thursday night (August 20) after CNN price-checked his cost-effective healthy meal claims.
Kennedy recently launched The Real Food Show on YouTube, which sees him taking his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign across the country. Guest chefs join the politician in each episode to provide recipes for healthy meals that can be made on a budget.
However, a recent segment on CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront disputed Kennedy’s claims that nutritious meals can be made for under $5 per portion and be “affordable for every family.”
CNN journalist Tom Foreman tested Kennedy’s claims by recreating one of the recipes from the show: wild Alaskan salmon cakes and a side salad. According to The Real Food Show, this meal was priced at $19.64 for four people. Foreman’s bill, by contrast, came to $70.54.
CNN remakes one of the “affordable” meals from RFK Jr.’s new cooking show. It should cost under $5 per serving, but what’s the real price point? @tomforemancnn reports. pic.twitter.com/7kvmaqa5cL
— Erin Burnett OutFront (@OutFrontCNN) August 20, 2026
“When we started buying ingredients used in the show, even going for the lowest prices at a big, competitive chain, the cost heated up fast,” Foreman said, noting that the cheapest salmon they could find was more than $24, a lot more than Kennedy’s $8.99 price tag.
CNN explained that the Republican is keeping the amount low by pricing the ingredient cost per serving, rather than what it would actually cost a family at the checkout. “They’re only pricing parts of it, and grocery stores don’t sell things that way,” Foreman added, explaining Kennedy’s $0.40-priced avocado mayonnaise actually cost more than $11 per bottle.
“I do not see, having made this, how you can walk into a grocery store with $20 and come out with everything you need for this,” Foreman concluded. “Making that part of the claim for any consumers, I think, [is] very hard to swallow.”
Trump Derangement Syndrome has so debilitated @ErinBurnett that she has abandoned both common sense and basic arithmetic.
CNN wants us to incorporate the full package price of every ingredient, regardless of what is used in the recipe.
If you put a squirt of ketchup on your… https://t.co/0vUy9yoJdC
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) August 21, 2026
Following the report, Kennedy took to X to lash out at CNN and Burnett. “Trump Derangement Syndrome has so debilitated @ErinBurnett that she has abandoned both common sense and basic arithmetic,” he wrote. “CNN wants us to incorporate the full package price of every ingredient, regardless of what is used in the recipe.”
“If you put a squirt of ketchup on your burger, would you be surprised if the restaurant charged you for the whole bottle?” he continued. “The Real Food Show uses standard recipe costing: we count what the recipe actually uses. The rest stays in your kitchen for the next meal—and the meals after that.”
He added, “Our goal is simple: help Americans reclaim their kitchens, cook healthy food without breaking the bank, and stock their pantries with high-quality ingredients they can use again and again. That’s how we Make America Healthy Again.”
Erin Burnett OutFront, Weeknights, 7/6c, CNN
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