Healthcare group urges RFK Jr to resign after remarks on cocaine and toilet seats [View all]

Source: The Guardian

Fri 13 Feb 2026 18.17 EST
First published on Fri 13 Feb 2026 16.51 EST


A prominent healthcare advocacy group is calling for the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, to step down from his post after he downplayed Covid risks by saying: “I’m not scared of a germ. I used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats.” Kennedy, who was appointed secretary of the federal health and human services (HHS) department despite his avowed anti-vaccine activism, made that remark on the 12 February episode of Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend.

The president of Protect Our Care, Brad Woodhouse, issued a one-word statement on Kennedy’s comments: “Resign.” The group added that Kennedy’s comment about cocaine – which as recently as 2023 was involved in nearly 30,000 overdose deaths in a year in the US – “continues to lay bare why he is the most dangerous … person ever to lead such an important federal agency”.

Kennedy on the podcast mentioned the drug in reference to his continued attendance at in-person recovery meetings during the pandemic. “Like, if I don’t, if I don’t treat it, which means for me going to meetings every day, it’s just bad for my life,” said Kennedy, who has spoken publicly about past struggles with drug addiction.

The commentary marked another controversial moment for Kennedy during his first year as health secretary for the Donald Trump White House. He has also faced criticism over his handling of US measles outbreaks that have left several people dead from a disease that had been declared eliminated from the country in 2000.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/13/healthcare-groups-rfk-jr-resign-cocaine-toilet-seats