RFK Jr.’s choice of attire while hiking in Arizona sparks online chatter

The Brief

• Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was seen hiking Camelback Mountain in Phoenix on July 19.

• The hike sparked online chatter, however, as RFK Jr. was seen hiking in jeans, during a normally hot part of the year for Arizona.

• It is not known if RFK Jr. was in Phoenix for business or for vacation.

PHOENIX – Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was spotted hiking Camelback Mountain over the weekend, and what he was wearing is causing some chatter on the internet.

What we know

“It really made my day, it was really cool,” said Matt Larson, who met Kennedy on the trail.

It’s a meeting Larson said he will never forget. He said he was hiking Camelback Mountain when someone caught his eye.

“I noticed what appeared to be a senior,” said Larson. “I didn’t have my contacts in, so I couldn’t see very well, but he had a group of people around him, and they were very close to him, and I thought he must have had an issue, like fall or a heatstroke.”

As they were walking down the Echo side of the trail, Larson walked up to offer some water.

“When I got close, I noticed the older person was talking politics to the people rescuing him,” Larson recounted. “I remember thinking: wow, leave it to an old white, boomer guy to be talking politics on his potential deathbed.”

Then, the pieces started falling together.

“At that point I was close enough, where I recognized him, and I was like ‘woah. Is that [RFK Jr.]?” Larson said.

Larson then asked the men with the Health Secretary, which he then realized were security, for a selfie.

Larson said Kennedy himself snapped the photo.

“It was about 92°, I think, temperature wise, at that point, so very impressive for him to have done that at his age,” Larson said.

Hiker Deric Keller, who took a selfie with Kennedy and a friend, said they met him around 6:00 a.m. when he first started up the trail. They said the weather wasn’t too bad, and that they even chatted with him for a few minutes.

Dig deeper

Online, Kennedy posted a photo on his X page at the summit, garnering some admiration and some criticism for both the jeans attire and hiking in the heat.

“I remember thinking, ‘that wouldn’t be my choice of hiking apparel in this weather,’ but you know, kinda a generational thing,” said Larson. “It’s what my dad would have probably hiked in, so makes sense.”

Larson, however, added that “it is pretty risky to be hiking if you’re not acclimated to our weather in the heat.”

Larson said politics aside, he’s still in disbelief over the chance encounter on the hard hike.

“I let a few of my friends know — I don’t know if you know this, but RFK is actually in better shape than you,” he said.

The other side

The Department of Health and Human Services communications team has not yet confirmed if Kennedy was in Arizona for business, or if he was on vacation.