Norms Impact
RFK Jr. Suggests People Eat Liver if They’re So Broke
A Cabinet secretary recast an affordability crisis as a personal diet choice, normalizing governance by deflection instead of accountability for economic pain.
Feb 27, 2026
Sources
Summary
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told an Austin rally that Americans can manage grocery costs by buying liver and other cheaper cuts instead of porterhouse steak. A Cabinet official publicly reframed an affordability crisis as a matter of individual consumer substitution rather than governmental responsibility. The message shifts political accountability away from policy and onto households already squeezed by inflation.
Reality Check
When Cabinet officials tell struggling families to “buy liver” instead of demanding answers from the government they serve, we normalize a state that lectures the public while insulating itself from accountability—and that erosion ultimately weakens our rights and leverage as citizens. This conduct is not likely criminal on these facts; a speech urging cheaper food choices does not fit federal bribery, extortion, or honest-services fraud theories (18 U.S.C. §§ 201, 872, 1346) absent a quid pro quo, coercion, or misuse of official power for private gain. The damage is institutional: it models a governing posture where inflation and affordability are treated as individual consumer failures, while political elites openly celebrate donor access elsewhere.
Media
Detail
<p>Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered the keynote address at the “Eat Real Food” rally in Austin, Texas, on Thursday and discussed grocery affordability. In remarks quoted from the event, Kennedy said “there’s a lot of good food in grocery stores that goes to waste,” and argued that “most of the cheap cuts of meat are very inexpensive.” He contrasted a “porterhouse steak,” which he said “is gonna set you back,” with alternatives, stating, “You can buy liver, or the cheaper cuts of steak that are very very affordable.”</p><p>The comments prompted public responses on X, including from Representative Ted Lieu, who urged the White House to send Kennedy to swing House districts to repeat the message. CNBC reporter Carl Quintanilla posted a suggested political ad tagline referencing liver. DNC Chair Ken Martin juxtaposed the remarks with a note that President Trump was hosting a candlelit dinner for donors at Mar-a-Lago that weekend.</p>