RFK Jr campaign promotes workout challenge for voters as Trump, Biden’s fitness becomes issue in 2024 race

FIRST ON FOX – Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign on Monday will begin promoting a new workout challenge for potential voters, as questions about former President Trump and President Biden’s physical and mental fitness have emerged center stage in the 2024 election contest.

Championing his group of supporters at Gold’s Gym in Venice, California, where he sometimes works out, Kennedy is unveiling the AmericaMoves challenge on Monday, encouraging participants to get up and get active for at least 24 minutes of movement a day to kick-start healthier habits for 2024.

With the help of influencers like Devon Levesque, the first human to bear crawl a marathon, and famed physician and author Dr. Mark Hyman, AmericaMoves “has set out to ignite a wellness revolution,” Kennedy’s campaign said in a statement to Fox News Digital, adding that the challenge is inspired by RFK Jr.’s own physical regimen.

It comes at a time when Democrat commentators and GOP presidential rival Nikki Haley jumped at the opportunity to criticize the 77-year-old Trump’s mental fitness when he used Haley’s name instead of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s at a New Hampshire rally last week when repeating allegations Pelosi was in charge of security and turned down 10,000 National Guard troops ahead of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. 

Trump hit back at another rally that he feels, “my mind is stronger now than it was 25 years ago” – the exact age gap between him and Haley – and went on to call into question Biden’s mental, as well as physical fitness, noting how the 80-year-old president has shorter public appearances and has shown difficulty finding out how to get off stages. 

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Biden has long-faced criticism for repeated public gaffes, as well as concerns over public falls and trips he has made at speaking events and while boarding Air Force One. Biden’s campaign officials claim the 2024 race “is not going to be about age,” which Trump even echoed, arguing it depends on the person. “It’s not age. Different people, different strokes,” Trump said.  

RFK Jr., who turned 70 on Jan. 17, went viral over the summer in a shirtless video shared on X showing him banging out nearly 10 push-ups. 

“Getting in shape for my debates with President Biden!” he captioned the video, which garnered millions of views in June. 

Fitness influencers and conservative activists championed Kennedy for his physical abilities – and muscular, tan physique – after another video of his bench-pressing skills went viral. Some praised the videos as an inspiration for men especially, while others juxtaposed the display against Biden’s repeated gaffes and public falls and stumbles. 

The AmericaMoves challenge goes live at 9:30 a.m. ET Monday at http://americanmovesav24.org/ and will be promoted by fitness influences for the next two months, RFK Jr.’s campaign says. The campaign is providing a series of activities based on varying fitness levels to encourage Americans to get active, but says the 24 minutes of movement a day can be anything from walking to running to weightlifting to bear crawling to swimming. 

RFK Version

• Leg Press – 5 sets, 15 reps (Set #1 starting with 1 plate on each side; adding 1 plate each side for every consecutive set – ending the last set with 5 plates on each side)
• Pull-ups – 5 sets (First 4 sets are 10 reps; the 5th set will be to failure)
• Bicep Curls – 5 sets, as many reps as possible in 1 minute

Beginner Version

• Squats – 5 sets, 10 reps
• Inverted Row – 5 sets (First 4 sets are 10 reps; the 5th set will be to failure)
• Bicep Curls – 5 sets, as many reps as possible in 1 minute

Bodyweight Version

• Air Squat – 5 sets (Set #1 starting with 5 reps; add 5 reps on each consecutive set – ending last set with 25 reps)
• Superman Holds – 5 sets, 10 reps (holding the last rep of the final set as long as you can)
• Plank – 5 sets, to failure

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The challenge is inspired by Kennedy’s own workouts and the fitness enthusiasts who are invigorated by him, according to his campaign. 

Appearing to take a page out of RFK Jr.’s playbook, Vivek Ramaswamy, who suspended his presidential campaign after Trump swept the Iowa caucuses, throwing support behind the longtime GOP frontrunner, notably also went viral for videos working out with his wife in the gym ahead of the first GOP presidential debate in August. Ramaswamy, at age 38, has stressed on the campaign trail that America needs a “new generational leader” and is being floated among a long list of Trump’s potential running mates. 

 

A nephew of President Kennedy and son of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, RFK Jr. announced in October that he was ending his Democratic presidential bid and instead launching an independent run. The best-selling author and environmentalist has become a vocal critic of tech and government censorship after initially launching a bid to challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination in Boston last April and has criticized Biden for denying him Secret Service protection afforded to other presidential candidates on the campaign trail.