WATCH: RFK Jr. And Pete Hegseth Challenge America — And Each Other — To Complete 100 Push-Ups
on Aug 20, 2025
Trump Administration Aims To Make America Healthy Again
How many push-ups and pull-ups can you do?
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. thinks 100 push-ups and 50 pull-ups should be an attainable goal for America’s youth, and he thinks they should be accomplished in under 10 minutes.
Visiting the Athletic Center of the Pentagon, RFK Jr. recently met with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to do a workout and see which of them could complete this challenge the fastest.
Dubbed the “Pete and Bobby Challenge,” Hegseth said in a video shared by the Department of Defense, “We hope that Americans will take this challenge and pass it along so that we’re ready to be fit the way that we need to, to be healthy, and to have a healthy fighting force.”
RFK Jr. added, “Let’s make America healthy again.”
The “Pete And Bobby Challenge”
Joined by members of the United States Armed Forces, RFK Jr. and Hegseth introduce the “Pete and Bobby Challenge” in a flashy video that was shared to the Department of Defense’s YouTube page.
“Here we are in the bowels of the Pentagon for the ‘Pete and Bobby Challenge,'” said Hegseth. “It’s all about making America healthy again.”
When RFK Jr. was running for president in 2023 and 2024, first as a Democrat and later as an Independent, health and fitness was an important component of his vision for the American future. When he eventually suspended his campaign to endorse President Donald Trump in his race to return to the White House, the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA movement, was born.
As the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration, RFK Jr. has been implementing a variety of policies with the aim of bettering the health and wellbeing of Americans.
Blaming RFK Jr. for this challenge to do 100 push-ups and 50 pul-ups in under 10 minutes, Hegseth said, “We want fit not fat. We want recruits that are ready to go and challenged.”
RFK Jr. added, “Pete and I are going to do our part, encourage American youth to do this challenge.”
Noting that the 100 push-ups and 50 pull-ups in the “Pete and Bobby Challenge” can be completed in any order within 10 minutes, RFK Jr. and Hegseth agreed that five minutes was the goal.
“We’re not going to be able to do that,” RFK Jr. said of the five-minute goal.
Ultimately, it was Hegseth — who, at age 45, is 26 years younger than 71-year-old RFK Jr. — who had the better time, completing the “Pete and Bobby Challenge” in five minutes and 25 seconds.
RFK Jr. completed the challenge in five minutes and 48 seconds.
Among the members of the Armed Forces who were in the Pentagon Athletic Center with them, one soldier completed the challenge in three minutes and 56 seconds. Another completed the challenge in two minutes and 43 seconds.
Watch RFK Jr. and Pete Hegseth complete their 100 pushups and 50 pull-ups, here:
Passing The Challenge Along
At the end of their video introducing the “Pete and Bobby Challenge,” RFK Jr. and Hegseth took a moment to challenge some of their peers.
“We want to send out a challenge so Sean Duffy,” RFK Jr. said.
Hegseth then followed that up by challenging General John “Razin” Caine, who serves as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to complete the challenge.
Further, Hegseth then challenged one of his old Fox News peers, Will Cain.
Both Duffy and Will Cain accepted the challenge on social media, and, on Wednesday, August 20, Duffy will be on The Will Cain Show where the two are expected to show that they have done the “Pete and Bobby Challenge.”
Duffy, who is head of both the US Department of Transportation and NASA, accepted the challenge, here:
.@SecKennedy and @SecDef — sorry for the late reply, I was busy working double shifts at @USDOT and @NASA.
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) August 19, 2025
I’m up for the challenge! And I happen to be in Texas with my buddy @WillCain.
Let’s MAHA 💪😎 pic.twitter.com/K9v7bMBaMx
This challenge comes about as the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition has reinstated the Presidential Fitness Test and Award.
Further, RFK Jr. will also be involved in a new athletic endeavor, called the Patriot Games. The White House wrote the following of this new event:
“The Patriot Games will be a nationally televised first-of-its-kind youth athletics competition featuring athletes from all 50 states.”
Related: “Excellence” Pursued As President Trump Reinstates The Presidential Fitness Test
