In what insiders are calling “the most Texas thing to ever happen in Washington,” U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently kicked off his very own national barbecue tour with a pilgrimage to the hallowed smoke‑pit temple that is Terry Black's Barbecue in Austin, Texas.
RFK Jr.’s X post — “First stop on my national BBQ tour, I visited Terry Black’s to EAT REAL FOOD” — immediately sent the internet into a flavor‑infused spiral of confusion, joy and a fair amount of bewilderment. It’s hard to tell if this was meant to be a new nutrition initiative or a secret audition for a Guy Fieri biopic.
Critics were quick to weigh in:
- One wondered whether the HHS travel budget now includes stipends for brisket research. (“BBQ tour? Are taxpayers footing the bill for baked beans too?”)
- A commenter suggested the next stop might be a donut shop. After all, balanced diet, right?
- Someone else pointed out that Kennedy’s complexion now perfectly matches the hue of smoked beef ribs — a level of camouflage no wildlife expert ever anticipated.
Other commenters took poetic digs with references to previous RFK Jr. exploits (yes, even a cryptic “Did you try their Bear?”), turning what should’ve been a simple BBQ visit into a folksy folklore legend worthy of its own Texas song.
Is this a Public Health campaign? A barbecue pilgrimage? A covert way to measure how many people love brisket more than official dietary guidelines? Your guess is as good as the next tweetstorm.
One true believer even pitched future stops at famed smokehouses around the country — from Dinosaur BBQ in New York to Louis Mueller in Taylor — apparently unaware that this BBQ tour could easily surpass most rock band concert tours in both travel expenses and napkins used.
In fact, by the end of the week, folks weren’t sure if we were witnessing a new strategy to save America’s health or the earliest signs of a BBQ “World Tour” box set complete with sauce bottles shaped like mini State Department seals.
Locals, meanwhile, reportedly responded in their own uniquely Texan way: deeply proud of their brisket … and extremely suspicious of government officials trying to repurpose it for political tourism. One resident didn’t mince words: “Running into that guy while trying to get some food would really ruin my day.”
If nothing else, RFK Jr.’s meaty adventure at Terry Black’s — a Central Texas barbecue institution known for its generously smoked meats and loyal following — has definitely cornered the market on weird, wonderful and wildly entertaining government communications strategies.
So next time you’re gnawing on a juicy rib and scrolling through social media, remember: somewhere out there, a government official is perfecting his apron pose for the next big culinary crusade.
