“Who climbs in jeans?”: Internet can’t stop laughing at RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz’s wobbly rock ascent
A new PSA from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Medicare administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz is drawing more ridicule than inspiration after the pair’s much-hyped “mountain climb” turned out to be a shaky scramble up a modest boulder.
Filmed at Colorado’s Garden of the Gods, the video was meant to promote walking 15 minutes a day as a cure-all for health woes. But it’s the awkward ascent, captured in close-up, then revealed to be far less dramatic when the camera zooms out, that’s fueling mockery from actual climbers and critics alike.
RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz climb a rock
RFK Jr. posted his video with Medicare administrator Dr. Oz on Wednesday, and it hasn't yet cracked 700,000 views. As the two men walked around Colorado's Garden of the Gods, they spoke on how hiking can help with everything from curing sleep problems to fixing the male loneliness epidemic.
"Big news," says Oz. "You walk 15 minutes a day, you save the country $100 billion in health expenses."
Healthcare in America is very expensive, but he probably meant those savings could happen if every citizen walked 15 minutes a day, not just you personally. Even so, we'd like to see a source on that.
The most remarked-upon part of the PSA, however, was the duos rock climb. X user @Mollyploofkins gained over 1.5 million views by clipping that part out for her followers. The Health Secretary's limbs visibly quiver as he ascends a steep rock without any safety equipment.
Many commenters on the short clip questioned how high RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz actually climbed, and the real beauty of the full video is that you can see them climb down. When the camera zooms out and they land on the ground, it's clear that they did not, as they said they would, climb a mountain.
"This mountain is not gonna climb itself," said RFK Jr. before ascending maybe 15 feet.
Climbers rip into their technique: "jeans, sneakers, no safety gear"
Critics of the Health Secretary, who since he took office defunded vaccine research and gave a bunch of kids vitamin A toxicity by claiming that the vitamin could fight the measles outbreak happening on his watch, were eager to dunk on him.
"Soloing ten feet in tennis shoes and then acting like it's an accomplishment?" @SkilosRising scoffed. "Absolute gumby behavior."
"He climbs like he talks," quipped @newconciousness, almost certainly referring to RFK Jr.
Actual rock climbers were particularly aghast at their technique and lack of preparation.
"Both utter dumba**es. Jeans, sneakers, no safety equipment. Kennedy is shaking like a leaf due to his disability," said @asweetgrace. "In fact guys, keep climbing like this! Tell others to do it as well. F**k safety."
“'Let’s climb the smoothest, steepest, no hand or foothold rock we can find with slippery sole shoes and no safety gear,'” wrote @sully384.
The biggest haters, however, encouraged the two men to continue this behavior.
"This seems wise to do at their age," joked @DecodingFoxNews. "They should do this every day…who needs safety equipment? Maybe they could grease the rocks up for extra fun."
"Come [on] gravity, we’re rooting for you!" said @gatesisthedevil.
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