CHARLSTOWN, WV — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said this week he was tuned to Martinsburg, West Virginia, for his first trip to promote the “Maha” agenda, saying that his iconic politician has a unique history in the mountainous country.
Kennedy recalls Governor Al Smith, a New York Democrat. Al Smith recalled how a dinner belonging to the famous annual Catholic Archdiocese took place in New York City, which happened to force him to consider Catholic bias.
Despite being a popular New York governor ahead of Albany’s President Franklin Roosevelt, Kennedy said Smith’s advance into the president’s arena led to political conflict and “the revival of the Coo-Class Clan in parts of the South.”
Smith was “devastatingly” defeated Republican President Herbert Hoover, Kennedy said — Smith had only won Arkansas Senator Massachusetts, Rhode Island, five Deep South States and his running mate Joseph Robinson.
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“And all of the people felt that America would never elect a Catholic president,” Kennedy said.
When John F. Kennedy ran for president in 1960, his nephew recalls, Massachusetts Democrats knew they had to win West Virginia.
“It was important for my uncle’s campaign to show that he could win this state and get the Catholics a presidency,” Kennedy said.
“He came down in West Virginia. His purpose was to wave everyone in West Virginia, and I think he was very close.”
“And my parents came down. My uncle, my aunt – I’m lucky enough to have a lot of Kennedy” – he intervened in the laughter of the audience.
JFK ultimately beat Republican Richard Nixon by seven points in the Mountain State, but was seen as a major upset.
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“He always believed that if he didn’t win this state, he would never become president, and he never forgot the relationship.
Before becoming HHS’s secretary, Kennedy said many of his pollution prevention efforts had taken him to West Virginia, particularly coal countries in the southern state.
Now, he said his new role allowed him to continue fighting different types of pollution and “give people the opportunity to live a healthy life.”
At the event, he and Gov. Patrick Morrissey announced a national policy in 2028 to ban food dyes and certain preservatives at school lunches at statewide sunsets.
Morrisey also signed a document seeking a waiver from Kennedy’s office to prohibit SNAP food stamps from being used to purchase soda, and prohibited setting work requirements for qualifications.
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Governor Al Smith took part in the World Series at the Polog Round in New York on October 4, 1922 (Paul Thompson/FPG/Getty Images)
“Today, we’re here to focus on making West Virginia healthy,” Morrissey told reporters after Kennedy’s speech.
He went on to announce a kind of “order” implementing “Climber Miles,” and officially launched that afternoon to Maha (American Health Again) in West Virginia.
West Virginia is the first in obesity rates, and the nearby Columbia district is considered to be number 51, and is therefore the healthiest on that indicator. Morrissey said he and Kennedy wanted to change that.
“We clean our food, promote exercise and bring ‘nutrition’ back to snap,” the governor said.
He also established the Mountaineer Mile initiative. I urged all climbers to walk at least one mile each day.
To that end, Morrisey has since posted photos of the sunset views from his own climber Miles on the Sunset Views.
Charles Kraitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers the media, politics and culture of Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
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