{"id":14748,"date":"2025-03-18T15:02:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T15:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/rfking-the-french-fries-steak-n-shake-becomes-a-maha-darling\/"},"modified":"2025-03-18T15:02:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T15:02:15","slug":"rfking-the-french-fries-steak-n-shake-becomes-a-maha-darling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/rfking-the-french-fries-steak-n-shake-becomes-a-maha-darling\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018RFK\u2019ing the french fries\u2019: Steak \u2018n Shake becomes a MAHA darling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over a double cheeseburger and fries, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News host Sean Hannity earlier this month of his plans to improve the country\u2019s health by incentivizing companies to step away from processed foods.<\/p>\n

From across the red high-top table of a Florida Steak \u2019n Shake, the health and human services secretary went on to praise the Indianapolis-based fast-food chain as a shining example of change since it began cooking its shoestring fries in beef tallow instead of one of the many seed oils that have become targets of Kennedy\u2019s health agenda.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSteak \u2019n Shake has been great,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cWe\u2019re very grateful to them for RFK’ing the french fries.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nationally televised praise marked the latest conservative endorsement for Steak \u2019n Shake, a 91-year-old company with 450 locations nationwide that has become one of the most high-profile businesses to support Kennedy\u2019s \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d agenda \u2014 a move that has been boosted by Republican politicians and MAGA influencers including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Charlie Kirk, Laura Loomer, Kari Lake, Tony Shaffer and Benny Johnson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just had a cheeseburger and fries cooked in beef tallow today for lunch! Delicious!!\u201d Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wrote on X.<\/p>\n

At a time when many companies might be looking to avoid politics, Steak \u2019n Shake is opting to publicly align itself with Kennedy and other high-profile conservatives. On social media, the brand has transformed its feed from the usual steam of burgers and shakes into a near nonstop stream of Trump-adjacent iconography: Elon Musk, Teslas, Fox News clips and even a red hat emblazoned with the words \u201cMake Frying Oil Tallow Again,\u201d a version of which is available for purchase on Kennedy\u2019s MAHA merchandise website.<\/p>\n

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The company has not publicly embraced Trump or any of his policies but has been full-throated in its embrace of Kennedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe support MAHA,\u201d Steak \u2019n Shake Chief Operations Officer Dan Edwards told NBC News last week. \u201cRestaurant chains like ours would like to meet customer demand for better quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edwards said support for the company is \u201cacross the political spectrum\u201d and that \u201cthere is nothing political about great-tasting fries.\u201d He did not answer specifically whether the company had any fears about alienating customers who do not support Kennedy\u2019s MAHA agenda or Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grateful to Secretary Kennedy for his leadership and for raising awareness about beef tallow,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bold move for a company that has weathered a rocky financial situation that forced the reported closure of 200 locations since 2018. While there is a wide array of relatively new and small brands that have sought to capitalize on the strength and passion of the MAGA movement, few, if any, established companies have shifted their public identity so quickly.<\/p>\n

Politics aside, Steak \u2019n Shake\u2019s choice to focus on seed oils comes with its own controversy.<\/p>\n

The MAHA agenda, helmed by Kennedy, features several health-focused concerns of questionable veracity, including skepticism of the food and drug industry, fluoride in water and vaccines. Seed oils have also long been a target of unfounded theories about negative health impacts, some of which Kenney has touted, calling them \u201cone of the most unhealthy ingredients we have in foods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Health experts have sought to counter those claims, noting that replacing seed oils with saturated fats offers little to no dietary benefit and can end up doing harm.<\/p>\n

Maya Vadiveloo, an associate professor at the University of Rhode Island who specializes in nutrition, said it is \u201cwell established that saturated fats are linked to an increased risk of heart disease, while vegetable oils, including oils from seeds, protect heart health.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Edwards said that while the burger brand supports Kennedy\u2019s MAHA movement, Steak \u2019n Shake CEO Sardar Biglari, who acquired the company in 2008, has been trying to move to beef tallow for some time.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy boss asked, \u2018Why should Europeans have better fries than Americans?\u2019\u201d Edwards said. \u201cMy boss said one day that we need to RFK the fries. So, a verb was invented.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the company\u2019s sudden shift on social media, Edwards said the posts \u201csometimes are aspirational,\u201d noting that \u201csometimes we refer to space or Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNASA and Musk\/SpaceX are the only two viable players in the area. We have referred to both,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cRegardless of politics, we admire Musk\u2019s accomplishments.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February, Tesla wrote on X that it had signed a deal to build charging stations at several Steak \u2019n Shake locations after the fast food joint responded to Musk\u2019s compliment on its fries. Edwards said discussions with Tesla and Steak \u2019n Shake started more than 18 months ago.<\/p>\n

Steak \u2019n Shake\u2019s shift hasn\u2019t been entirely smooth. The Bulwark reported that the chain\u2019s move inspired some in the MAHA world to look deeper at the company\u2019s food practices, finding that its fries were precooked in seed oils. The company later acknowledged on its website that some of its foods arrived at locations prefried, and that the initial frying had been in seed oils.<\/p>\n

However, Edwards said, because Kennedy has advocated for the removal of seed oils \u201ccompletely,\u201d the company is making a commitment to do so. And while he did not provide details as to how Hannity\u2019s interview with Kennedy came about, he did say that when the Fox News host \u201ccalls, we answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSean Hannity is the best. He knows the restaurant business,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are honored Sean Hannity and Secretary Kennedy visited Steak \u2019n Shake.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS<\/div>\n

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