Secretary of State Marco Rubio supports making America healthy again—as long as nobody expects him to carry sauerkraut through airport security.
Rubio and his wife, Jeanette, joined Katie Miller for a wide-ranging podcast conversation Tuesday when the subject turned to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s meat-and-fermented-vegetable diet.
Marco Rubio is just not a diet guy:
“I tried keto once.
“It was a near-psychotic event for me. If I had been in this job while doing it, I would’ve been like, “Mr. President, we must bomb Paraguay.”
“And it’s like, why? I don’t know. I’m just really mad. I haven’t had any… pic.twitter.com/PXsqLCW1kG
— Katie Miller (@KatieMiller) August 12, 2026
Miller noted that Vice President JD Vance has accused Rubio of possessing a serious sweet tooth before asking whether the secretary had adopted Kennedy’s eating regimen.
Rubio did not attempt diplomatic language.
“No, this is a crazy diet,” Rubio said. “This is a diet that consists of eating sauerkraut and meat.”
Rubio appeared particularly troubled by the logistical complications of Kennedy’s traveling cabbage operation.
“Can you imagine? He has to travel with coolers of sauerkraut,” Rubio said. “I’m not going to travel the world with a cooler full of sauerkraut. It’s ridiculous. I can’t do it. It’s not sustainable.”
Miller then asked Rubio directly whether he considers himself part of the Make America Healthy Again movement.
“I’m in favor of MAHA,” Rubio answered. “Like, I think people should be healthy.”
Jeanette Rubio immediately issued a marital fact-check.
“He is not.”
Rubio attempted to continue, but his wife was not finished.
“He is completely not.”
When Miller asked what her husband actually eats, Jeanette delivered the answer without hesitation:
“Pop-Tarts.”
Rubio denied eating them every day but mounted a passionate defense of the toaster pastry itself.
“The Pop-Tart is one of the great American innovations in the history of the world,” Rubio declared. “If you think about it, it comes in this beautiful foil package.”
Forget the space program, the microchip and the polio vaccine. America’s greatest contribution to civilization may be two layers of processed pastry surrounding something vaguely related to fruit. His wife continued reading the nutritional indictment.
“He eats all the things you should not be eating. Every single thing.”
She accused Rubio of loving sweets, ice cream, fast food and essentially anything containing sugar. “Anything that’s sugar, you will take it down,” she told him. Rubio defended carbohydrates as necessary for human functioning—a medical doctrine that conveniently leaves room for frosted strawberry.
Rubio revealed that he attempted the ketogenic diet approximately four or five years ago. Eliminating sugar and carbohydrates, he said, sent him into a three-day withdrawal that he described as “a near psychotic event.”
Then he considered what might happen if he tried the diet while serving as secretary of state.
“If I did this in this job, I would be, ‘Mr. President, we must bomb Paraguay.’”
“And it’s like, ‘Why?’”
“‘I don’t know. I’m just really mad I haven’t had any sugar.’”
Rubio quickly clarified that he does not oppose Kennedy’s diet and is not demanding federal action against refrigerated sauerkraut.
“I’m not against this diet,” he said. “I’m not asking that we ban it. I encourage people to try it. I’m just saying it’s not for everyone.”
That may be the most traditionally conservative position uttered in Washington all week: Kennedy is free to eat his meat and sauerkraut, while Rubio retains the constitutional right to pursue life, liberty and the occasional S’mores Pop-Tart.
Kennedy has made nutrition reform a centerpiece of his tenure at HHS, targeting ultra-processed foods, artificial ingredients and the regulatory loopholes permitting manufacturers to introduce some substances without advance FDA approval.
On Monday, Kennedy announced a proposed overhaul of the “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, framework. He has also promoted increased consumption of whole foods, protein and fermented vegetables while warning Americans about excessive sugar.
Rubio’s Pop-Tart defense therefore places him on the less-disciplined flank of the Trump Cabinet.
Still, this was affectionate ribbing, not a policy dispute. Rubio specifically said he favors MAHA’s broader objective and believes Americans should become healthier.
There is also a lesson here for every married politician: Never appear for a joint interview expecting your spouse to maintain the official campaign biography.
Do yourself a favor and watch the full interview with Marco Rubio and his wife. It’s warm, candid, and often genuinely funny—showing a side of Rubio that rarely comes through in political sound bites. From family life to memes, Pop-Tarts, and Pete Hegseth’s hilariously arrogant cat, the whole conversation is well worth your time.
Get ready for a side of the Rubios you’ve never seen before.
In this brand-new episode with @SecRubio and Jeanette Rubio, nothing is off limits: from Marco’s surprising love for EDM and rap, to the key to their happy family life, and a behind-the-scenes look at life as Secretary… pic.twitter.com/XiA3MEpCke
— The Katie Miller Podcast (@katiemillerpod) August 11, 2026
WIRE SOURCES
- State Department: Marco and Jeanette Rubio’s complete Katie Miller interview
- Rubio roasts RFK Jr.’s sauerkraut cooler and defends Pop-Tarts
- Marco Rubio rejects RFK Jr.’s “crazy” MAHA diet
- RFK Jr. proposes increased federal oversight of food ingredients
- Nutrition experts react to RFK Jr.’s meat-heavy dietary guidelines
