Yesterday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rolled out a plan to pour $1 billion into airports, but what stole the show was a fully public pull-up contest.
Duffy, RFK Jr. Push $1B For “Family Friendly Airports” And Do Pull Ups To Prove It
On December 8, 2025, Kennedy and Duffy stood before microphones touting new grant money aimed at turning airports into more than just terminals. The plan calls for mini gyms, children’s play areas, nursing pods for mothers, family-only security lanes, and dietary overhauls. Per Duffy:
“I want to expand the play areas for kids. I want additional nursing pods for nursing mothers. Maybe I want a workout area where people might get some blood flowing, doing some pull-ups or some step-ups in the airport. But it could be any range of things.”
Then came the pull-up bar. Kennedy, 71 years old, proceeded to crank out 20 pull-ups in a dress shirt and tie. As Kennedy explained:
“This is where healthy diets go to die. The food that is available in the airport, a lot of it tastes very good, but it is not very good for you.”
Duffy tried too and managed 10 reps after shedding his tie and jacket.
Airport Amenities And Publicity Stunts
The grant money is part of the administration’s stated effort to make airports more “family-friendly.” The messaging certainly made for eye-catching headlines and more playground zones for kids, lactation pods for mothers, and workout corners are small but tangible upgrades for travelers who spend long hours waiting or connecting.
It also taps into a deeper frustration many frequent flyers have, including me. Airports often feel like overpriced shopping malls that specialize in junk food. If the plan delivers, maybe our airports will look more like East Asia…and creating a vibrant hub of commerce at an airport is not a bad thing at all.
On the other hand, the primary focus should be on making the airport experience more efficient. That means continuing to upgrade ATC technology and also streamlining security by eliminating the liquid ban, shoe requirement, and the necessity of removing items from bags during screening (I give DHS Secretary Noem credit for already improving this).
That said, it’s amazing to me that this Michelle Obama-like proposal is coming from a GOP administration.
Per Duffy:
“I’m not a big government guy. I’m not fining anyone for wearing their pajamas on the airplane, that’s not what we are doing. I’m just asking people to maybe dress a little better. And I’ve asked airlines to give some better options. It’s all in an airline’s purview in how they are going to respond to this and I think they some ideas of what they are thinking through to improve the experience, but no, this is not about mandates. This is not a requirement. This is a conversation. Can we offer healthier options? Can we support nursing mothers? That’s the conversation we’re having, but I’m not cramming this down anyone’s throat.”
But it sounds very big-government to me…
Even so, I support it…I think the most pressing existential crisis for the United States is our obesity and unhealthy eating…we need to do better as a nation…it is an emergency and helping Americans make better food choices strikes me as a critical function of the federal government, who must later, via Medicare, shoulder so many needless healthcare costs.
And sorry folks, but I just cannot help but to say that if the administration wants to dole out $1 billion in grant money for airports to offer healthier food, maybe we start with properly funding (and regulating) the SNAP program…?
CONCLUSION
Call it theater, call it marketing, the pull-up contest was undeniably absurd. But the issues Duffy and Kennedy identified are real. Overpriced food, cramped terminals, and a lack of basic amenities for families or health-conscious travelers are hardly new. If those grants turn into actual improvements, then maybe this spectacle was worth the spotlight. If you see pull-up bars or healthier food options next time you travel, you might have to thank the airport pull-up contest that started at DCA.
Do either of these clowns know that the country is broke? This is deficit-funded virtue signaling,
I’m sure they do. But look what happens every time they want to do something about it. The voters go nuts. Don’t touch my insert program. Especially the left, the Republicans are gonna put grandma on the street, force her to eat dog food. The problem can’t be solved without reasoned debate. Something not possible in Washington.
And I can’t even do 1 as a slim person…
“Let them eat Biscoff”
Reminds me of someone that decorates a house before it is built. Saying nice things isn’t confronting major existing problems that require hard work now. Fix the ATC, and change the TSA 2040 liquid ban. I could go on but blatant foolishness exhausts me.
If they want to do something family friendly, how about shaming Delta and United into having reasonable family seating policies for families traveling with young children (13 or under) that match the limited conditions that the DOT set out (and the DOT’s airline family seating dashboard was last updated on September 5, 2025, so…)
1. Child and accompanying adult are on the same reservation;
2. Adjacent seats are available at the time of booking in the selected class of service;
3. Aircraft is not substituted for smaller aircraft;
4. Adult either chooses seats for the entire reservation or skips seats for the entire reservation, and does not make changes to seat assignments once assigned to them; and
5. It is physically possible based on seat layout to seat the number of young children traveling next to the accompanying adult(s).
do these morons know how to do a pull up? seriously they didn’t come close to actually getting their chin above the bar on each pull up…weak.
if my son was doing this, i’d tell him to do as many as you can properly and not cheat.
And how many can your weak sorry ass do??
It’s encouraging to see Obergruppenführer Kennedy out and about promoting the Aryan values of exercise, good nutrition, fresh air, and sunshine. Americans have lost the spirit of Volksgemeinschaft, and RFK should be lauded for his vigor. He must surely be in line to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom With Distinction!
Yes but unironically. Fitness is good, nutritious food is good, to oppose this is insanity.
The whole thing makes me crazy. Yes, we have an exercise/movement and diet crisis in this country, but its massive and systemic, and doing random programs in airports is probably number 500 on the list of ways to help solve these problems.
This shows bipartisan stupidity. RFK Jr. is not a Republican but is a Democrat. He even ran for the2024 Democratic presidential nomination. Even Biden is not very smart. Someone in Iowa challenged him if Biden were mentally up to speed and Biden responded angrily, challenging the guy to push ups, which says nothing about dementia.
Bottom line, America needs foreign advisors badly. Ask Singapore, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Taiwan, and Monaco to help us with economic and government advice.
Bobby is now an Independent . When he ran against Biden and dropped out he switched. Also as he struggled with addiction issues most of his life, one might think he could address alcohol abuse as something that promote better health. But no, alcohol is a profit center for many airports and a something he seems to step away from. Whatever.
Gosh how about we pour that money into upgrading ATC ! and drag the systems kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
Just Saying.
It reminds me of that old Budget Rent a Car tv ad where the marketing team is thinking of new bold ideas. It ends with a pitch for aromatherapy candles in the car. Everyone loved it until they day dreamed a scenario in which four executives all fall asleep and veer off the road.
Want to encourage lower cost healthier options at airports? Great. Have a plan for that other than saying we need it?
But pull up bars? Gyms? The injury lawsuits alone will cripple the airports and the gyms will fall apart because they, umm, actually need upkeep. Like every day after hundreds of teens use them for goofing around on with friends.
Horsing around
Oh look, the lying George Santos of trolls is back to tell us nothing of value and support the racist, homophobic, xenophobic MAGA propaganda spewed over the last election. Where have you been alert? Hiding from the fallout of your idiocies? ( new readers please check the archives )
Reactivated once Dave Edwards was banned?
I can’t with these Republican’ts. Thank you for mocking them, Matthew.
Imagine them wanting healthier food and space for families? That’s clearly exactly what 1945 Germany looked like. We must fight healthy food and we must ensure airports in the US are like those in West Africa. It’s the only good solution.
Garden gnome.
Oh, you finally decided to click through. Great.
@ Matthew I’d imagine you can do a lot more pull ups than either of them
That is correct…and I would also bring my head above the bar…but good effort by RFK, Jr.
Hotels pretty much all have gyms… Who is going to want to work out in a crowded airport, build up a lather, then get on a cramped plane? Just dumb
I have o use for this macho clown show. How about hiring air traffic controllers, or continuing to improve screening equipment?
I think it is a stretch to call what either of those men did “pull-ups”
Expanding lactating rooms is discriminatory to “pre-parents”. How about Mile High rooms for them?