Thursday, February 19, 2026 |
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Have you seen the video that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kid Rock released yesterday? It would be mildly amusing if it wasn't from the actual Department of Health and Human Services. Alas, this is America now. But the most shocking part of the video, according to Esquire's Dave Holmes, is what it reveals about the Republican Party. "I can believe that they'd let themselves be flattered into fascism," he writes. "But I am straight up shocked and disappointed that they'd let themselves look this tacky." Read Dave's view on the video—including his coining of the term "homo-eNOTic"—in his column below. – Michael Sebastian, editor-in-chief |
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The party of Lincoln has been reduced to RFK Jr. and Kid Rock's "workout" video. Are they really OK with that? |
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. got together with Woodstock '99 standout Kid Rock to produce a short video promoting nutrition, exercise, and bathing with your pants on. The "Rock Out WORK OUT" video was filmed at Kid Rock's home gym and sauna, and it is scored to his 1998 single "Bawitdaba," so just when you start to realize that your tax dollars funded this video, you have to face the fact that some of your tax dollars have gone directly to Kid Rock, which is a lot to sit with. Like you, I spent much of yesterday trying not to see it. But it turns out to be a pretty good barometer of where we are as a country and a culture in February of 2026. The video opens with Kennedy and Kid, shirtless and flexing, in front of the taxidermied bear you were already sure existed in Kid Rock's home gym. A quick camera pan reveals that this bear is wearing a checkered fedora, suggesting that this bear was shot while on stage with its ska band, which hardly seems sporting. From there, a montage that includes an American flag, a shark, a fighter jet, a bald eagle and an explosion, so what we know right off the bat is two things: one, they're going to be throwing everything at the wall here, and two, NFTs must really be over because this would be the perfect place to slide one in. |
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We now hop on up to New Hampshire, where ICE planned to drop onto the city of Merrimack one of its pre-fab concentration camps. The good citizens of Merrimack have declined the honor, and Governor Kelly Ayotte is taking incoming heat about her talks with the administration regarding the project. Even Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has chimed in, advising Ayotte to run far away from this project.
The administration's crackpot plan to buy up old warehouses, make the minimal amount of repairs, and then put them out to bid for private prison companies isn't coming together. Virtually everywhere, local resistance is rising. And not just in hippie-dippie blue states, either. Good. |
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If it's been a while, head over to your local bar. Tell the bartender you don't need to see their list of $36 artisanal craft cocktails, thank you. You don't want their watered-down fruit juice in a tiny glass, and if there's a teaspoon of tequila in there, you count yourself lucky. What you want is a Long Island Iced Tea. It's the strong magic potion you're looking for, and here at Esquire, we fully endorse it. What? Déclassé, you say? That kind of bias is un-American. If it were called the St. Barts Thé Glacé, even the snobbiest bartend... uh, mixologist would keep it top of the menu. Where has the Long Island Iced Tea gone? We ordered the drink at an Esquire party recently. To our horror, no one under 30 had ever tasted one. No better time than now to bring it back. Because why spend the money on five drinks when one will do? And yes, it is that potent. |
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