No, McDonald’s didn’t offer RFK Jr. $850 million in ‘hush money’ | Fact check

The claim: McDonald’s offered $850 million in ‘hush money’ to RFK Jr.

A Nov. 18 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) includes a clip of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talking about fast food while appearing on Fox News.

The post's caption reads, “McDonald’s offered 850 million to RFK for hush money.”

A woman narrating the video says, “Listen to what RFK just exposed about the Golden Arches because they are currently literally trying to get the video removed.”

The post was liked more than 1,000 times in eight days.

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Our rating: False

There is no evidence McDonald’s offered to pay Kennedy $850 million in “hush money.” No credible reports support the claim, and neither McDonald’s nor Kennedy have said anything about such a payment.

Kennedy discussed stance on fast food during Fox News appearance

Kennedy appeared on “Fox & Friends” in late October and used then-candidate Donald Trump’s visit to a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania to say he doesn’t have a problem with fast food – rather, he is “against food that has seed oils.” He also questioned why McDonald’s no longer uses tallow fat to fry its food.

President-elect Trump has since nominated Kennedy to serve as Health and Human Services secretary, as USA TODAY previously reported.

There is no evidence, though, that McDonald’s offered Kennedy any amount of “hush money,” much less $850 million, as the post claims. There are no credible news reports about it, and McDonald’s hasn’t mentioned anything similar to the claim on its website or social media accounts, nor has Kennedy. The woman in the Instagram video says nothing about such a payment.

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It's no secret that McDonald’s – and competitors Burger King and Wendy’s – stopped using beef tallow and switched to “100 percent vegetable oil” in 1990. The change was made to reduce the saturated fat and eliminate all the cholesterol in the fries, The Washington Post reported. McDonald’s says on its website that it uses a canola-blend oil to make its fries.

McDonald’s reported a net income of nearly $8.5 billion in 2023, so the purported $850 million “hush money” payment would equal about 10% of the restaurant chain’s income for an entire year.

Kennedy isn’t alone in claiming seed oils aren’t healthy, but Christopher Gardner, a professor of medicine at Stanford University, told The New York Times that decades of research have shown seed oils are associated with better health.

The social media user who shared the post could not be reached for comment.

PolitiFact and Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (YouTube), Oct. 29, Make Frying Oil Tallow Again

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr., accessed Nov. 27, X profile

• McDonald's, accessed Nov. 27, Our Stories

• McDonald's, accessed Nov. 27, Facebook profile

• McDonald's, accessed Nov. 27, Instagram profile

• McDonald's, accessed Nov. 27, X profile

• McDonald's, Feb. 5, McDonald's Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results

• The Washington Post, July 31, 1999, Lower-fat fast food

• The New York Times, Nov. 9, Are Seed Oils Actually Bad for You?

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, McDonald’s didn’t offer to pay RFK Jr. $850 million | Fact check