RFK Jnr teams up with Aussie anti-vax TV chef to write healthy cookbook for children

EXCLUSIVE

Incoming US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has enlisted former Australian TV chef and conspiracy theorist Pete Evans to tackle America’s devastating youth obesity epidemic.

The divisive duo, who bonded over their anti-vaxxer views during the global pandemic, have teamed up to release a new culinary guide aimed at improving children’s unhealthy eating habits.

The Evans-authored cookbook, Healthy Food for Healthy Kids, claims it will feature 120 “paleo- and keto-friendly meals your child will love” when it is published on January 28 by Kennedy’s activist group Children’s Health Defense.

The release marks the “canceled” TV star’s first return to culinary writing since his former publisher, Pan MacMillan, canceled Evan’s book deal after he posted a cartoon featuring a neo-Nazi symbol on social media.

It also comes after his last similarly themed recipe book aimed at children, Bubba Yum Yum: The Paleo Way, was met with widespread controversy and had its release date postponed amid claims it promoted a restrictive and potentially deadly diet.

Evans credited his close friend RFK Jr with personally putting together the deal after announcing the upcoming launch to his 41,000 followers on messaging app Telegraph.

“So please and grateful that Robert Kennedy Jr. set this up for me, along with his Children’s Health Defense team,” the 51-year-old said. ‘Stay tuned for more.’

Since joining Donald Trump’s campaign in August, Kennedy has become one of the president-elect’s closest — and most trusted — advisers. He even shares McDonald’s with Trump, his eldest son, Don Jr, and Elon Musk.

Evans this week credited Kennedy with personally connecting him with a publishing deal for his latest cookbook that focuses on the unhealthy eating habits of children

Kennedy, who has pledged to overhaul America’s health care organizations if his nomination as Trump’s health secretary is confirmed by the Senate, was also spotted ringside with Republican leader and podcaster Joe Rogan.

Evans would not discuss the specifics of the publication details when contacted by Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.

The former Channel Seven star has consistently courted controversy – and unwanted headlines – since being fired from his $800,000-a-year gig as host of the network’s hit reality cook-off My Kitchen Rules in May 2020.

By that point, Evans had already begun to align himself with Kennedy, having shared a selfie of them together online while praising the “important work” being undertaken by the outspoken anti-vaxxer and his Children’s Health Defense.

But now free from the contractual constraints of mainstream network television, he began posting increasingly controversial messages about vaccines and the coronavirus epidemic.

In July 2020, he sparked outrage when he falsely claimed that Covid-19 was a “f**king hoax” and that the pandemic “doesn’t compare to what is happening in the world on a large scale.”

After publishing a dozen of his cookbooks, Pan Macmillan ended its relationship with Evans in November after he posted the offensive cartoon, along with the caption “an oldie and a goldie,” to his more than 1.5 million social media followers .

The image showed a caterpillar wearing a Make America Great Again hat talking to a black butterfly with a ‘Black Sun’ symbol on its wing.

Evans was once one of Australia’s most bankable stars, earning $800,000 a year as frontman of hit Channel Seven reality show My Kitchen Rules, alongside co-host Manu Feildel

Since being fired from Seven, Evans has become increasingly open about his political views

The symbol, also known as the sun wheel, has been appropriated by neo-Nazis and graced the Christchurch terrorist’s manifesto at the time of his vicious killing spree in 2019.

“Pan Macmillan does not support Pete Evans’ recent posts,” the publisher said at the time.

‘Those views are not our views as a company or the views of our employees.

‘If a retailer would like to return Pete Evans’ book, please contact Pan Macmillan.’

Big W, Coles, Dymocks, Kmart and Booktopia were among the retailers who said they would not sell its products after the post.

Evans initially indicated he was aware of the symbol’s presence in the cartoon when someone pointed it out on social media, replying, “I was waiting for someone to see that.”

Evans was spotted by his publisher after posting this cartoon on social media

However, he later added that “one statue can represent so many things to so many people,” but he did not aligning themselves with white supremacy or Nazism before eventually apologizing to people who “misinterpreted” the cartoon.

“Sincere apologies to anyone who misinterpreted an earlier post showing a caterpillar and a butterfly chatting over a drink and noticed that I was promoting hate,” he said. “I look forward to studying all the symbols that have ever existed and researching them thoroughly before posting them.”

The controversy cost him dearly, with Channel Ten sacking him amid scandal as he was due to start filming on the network’s reality survival show, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!

The following month, Evans had his Facebook page, which had amassed more than a million followers, permanently deleted by the social media giant after it emerged that he had repeatedly violated the site’s misinformation policy with his controversial posts.

“We removed Pete Evans’ account because he repeatedly shared debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” Facebook said in a statement at the time.

Evans and his wife Nicola now live a largely secluded life near Byron Bay

The company deleted his Instagram account in February for the same reason, although he has since quietly returned to the photo-sharing platform.

Since being largely ‘canceled’, Evans and his model wife Nicola have been living a largely secluded life on their farm outside Byron Bay.

Kennedy’s Children Health Defense, which describes itself as a “children’s health protection and advocacy group,” has previously been criticized for spreading vaccine misinformation during the global coronavirus pandemic.

The group’s influence has stagnated since Kennedy formally resigned as chairman and chief litigation council last April after announcing he would run for the US presidency.

After withdrawing from the race in August, Kennedy has become one of Trump’s staunchest supporters. He is urging his supporters to vote for the millionaire businessman with the slogan “Make America Healthy Again.”

Evans’ upcoming return marks the former TV star’s return to culinary writing

Trump last week nominated Kennedy as his health secretary to oversee national health agencies and their multi-trillion-dollar budgets, despite concerns about his strong anti-vaxxer stance and his pledge to remove fluoride from drinking water.

Kennedy has said he believes autism is linked to vaccines and that fluoride causes arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer and IQ loss – despite scientific research suggesting otherwise.

His cousin, outgoing US ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy, was among those who warned the US Senate against confirming his nomination.

“I think Kennedy’s views on vaccines are dangerous, and I don’t think most Americans share them,” she said in a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra on Monday.

“You know, I grew up with him. So I’ve known all this for a long time and others are only now getting to know him.’

Donald Trump has nominated Kennedy as his Secretary of Health despite concerns about his anti-vaxxer stance and his promise to remove fluoride from drinking water

US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy has labeled her cousin’s views as ‘dangerous’

She said the rest of her family was united in support of America’s public health sector, while Kennedy was an outlier in the political dynasty.

‘My Uncle Teddy [Kennedy] “I have fought for affordable health care in the Senate for 50 years and it is something our entire family is so proud of, that President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act and built on the work my uncle had done over many years,” said them.

“I would say that our family is united in terms of our support of the public health sector and infrastructure, and has the utmost admiration for the medical profession in our country.

“Bobby Kennedy has a different opinion.”