U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a stop in Nashville on Wednesday, addressing state lawmakers as part of his department’s Take Back Your Health Tour.
Kennedy’s comments focused on a wide range of issues, from vaccine requirements to rural health care, drug costs and restrictions to SNAP benefits — all aligned with the Make America Health Again (MAHA) movement the secretary has championed since he was appointed to the Trump administration last year. This marked Kennedy’s second stop in Nashville within the past 12 months. The secretary spoke at the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit in April and campaigned at the Ryman in 2024 before bowing out of the presidential race.
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On Wednesday, Kennedy made unverified claims that certain foods are linked to mental health disorders and other chronic illnesses, though he maintained that Americans should have the right to choose when it comes to their diet.
“Our job is not to tell Americans what to eat — it’s to tell them what’s good for them and give them good information,” Kennedy said. “If you want to drink a Coca-Cola or eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut, you live in America. You ought to be able to do that.”
In January, the HHS department and U.S. Department of Agriculture released new federal dietary guidelines, which essentially invert the food pyramid adopted by the USDA in 1992. Kennedy’s version prioritizes protein consumption and full-fat dairy.
When asked about reducing vaccine requirements in public schools, Kennedy — who has spread inaccurate anti-vaccine rhetoric in the past — said he’s not currently involved in those efforts but he believes in freedom of choice. This statement was met with applause from Republican lawmakers who filled the Old Supreme Court Chamber at the state Capitol on Wednesday.
Support for rural health care was also among the topics Kennedy noted in his remarks. He outlined the federal government’s $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, recently passed by the U.S. Congress in a budget reconciliation act that also includes billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid. The program will bring around $200 million to Tennessee’s rural communities annually over the next five years to expand and modernize health care in those often underserved areas.
“[The states] all get a choice of how to spend that, but they can spend it on ways to fix the systems in those counties and do it permanently,” Kennedy said. “For a lot of these rural communities, that hospital is not just delivering health care. It’s a cultural center. It’s an economic driver. It’s the best jobs in that community, and when that hospital closes, the communities collapse around them.”
He also celebrated Tennessee’s ban of cellphones in schools — legislation the Tennessee General Assembly passed last session.
Gov. Bill Lee praised Kennedy’s leadership in his own remarks Wednesday.
“Something has changed in our country, and someone needed to have the leadership to stand up and ask the real questions and challenge the status quo and find the answers to the questions that we all have,” Lee said.
State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) was in attendance and told reporters afterward that Kennedy’s statements concerned him.
“I think there's a lot of misinformation shared about relating diet to things like bipolar disorder and autism,” Jones said. “I think that there's a lot of misinformation. But I wanted to come with an open mind, and I think a lot of things I heard were very alarming and are a danger to our public health.”
In a video shared with the Scene, Jones questioned Kennedy over his support of a proposed state bill that would expand legal protections for pesticide companies — legislation that’s been met with opposition from people who say it would prevent companies from being sued by people who develop serious illnesses as a result of the pesticides. In the video, Kennedy said he was against the bill.
Protesters gather at the state Capitol as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks to lawmakers, Feb. 4, 2026
A small group of protesters that included local health care professionals stood outside the chamber holding signs with phrases like “Vaccines save lives” and “Listen to nurses, not politicians!”
One of those protesters was Katrina Green, an emergency physician in Nashville.
“When children aren't vaccinated and they end up with measles, they're going to end up in my ER,” Green said. “When people follow the advice of this rearranging of the food pyramid and eat too many fats and end up having heart attacks and strokes as a result, they will end up in my emergency department. So I have to stand up for scientific credibility in the medical community, because otherwise I will see all of this in my emergency department at some point.”
Kennedy is additionally set to speak at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s CattleCon Thursday.
Hamilton Matthew Masters contributed reporting.
