Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended Donald Trump’s threats against Iran when he appeared before the House Education and Workforce committee on Friday. The Health Secretary shared that the president was acting out of “love and compassion” when he threatened them, according to The Mirror US.
As the hearing continued, the lawmakers started referencing some of Trump’s social media posts, specifically him targeting Iran and potentially destroying them. One representative talked about Trump’s mental health and said, “Earlier in this hearing, Representative Takano had referenced Truth Social posts from the president, and I believe I heard your response to be that he was the most sane president,” adding, “Do you care to comment any further?”
RFK Jr. pointed to the closing line as evidence that the post had a dual meaning. In the post, Trump had threatened “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
Trump was ‘sending a message of love and compassion to the Iranian people’ with his post about destroying Iranian civilization — RFK Jr pic.twitter.com/v0o5hu3PRd
— RT (@RT_com) April 17, 2026
The president then wrote about a possible complete regime change and how things could improve. He then ended the post by saying, “47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!”
“If you look at that Truth Social post, I was pointing out the last line of it says, God bless the Iranian people,” RFK Jr. said. “So it was clear that he was sending a nuanced message.” RFK then said the post had two purposes—one aimed at Iran’s leadership and another at its citizens. He said Trump was showing his strength to those in power, while at the same time trying to show empathy toward the public.
“He was sending a message of brute force and violence to the mullahs to incentivize them to change, but also sending a message of love and compassion to the Iranian people,” RFK said. He defended the president by pointing out that the post could be read and interpreted in a variety of ways, not only as a message of destruction and dominance.
Depending on whose perspective the post was read from, RFK Jr. made a remark about the president’s sanity. Saying, “So you can look at it and say, oh, it’s insane that he’d make this kind of threat.” The Health Secretary framed Trump’s threats as an act of compassion, rather than the rantings of a man whose sanity should be questioner.
Rep. Mark Takano to RFK Jr: “We can all see this president is mentally unstable, emotionally unstable, and is unfit to lead this country. You, as the nation’s top health official, have a particular role here. You are choosing your loyalty to Donald Trump over your loyalty to the… pic.twitter.com/4rj7BgvKlh
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) April 17, 2026
He closed off his remarks about Trump’s post by saying, “But he’s a dealmaker. He’s a bargainer.” RFK Jr. appeared to be implying that the president had a long-term plan, and his posts could be viewed as one of the strategies he uses to engage with people.
Trump’s recent comments about Iran has fueled discussions about how public messaging helps to shape public perception about the war. The Trump administration has even gone so far as to ban photographers from press briefings when Pete Hegseth talks about Iran, after a photo was released that they did not approve of.
And in the vein of perception, RFK Jr.’s defended Trump’s messages by arguing that strong language can be seen as leverage rather than escalation of the war. Either way, RFK Jr. proved that he knows the effects of strategic communication and framing ideas to one’s advantage.
