Democrats chugged artificial food dyes to protest against policies announced by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
A rumor that users circulated online in April 2025 claimed Democrats began chugging artificial food dyes to protest policies announced by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
For example, numerous users posting on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Truth Social, X all shared the claim with no attribution to a source. Some postings displayed a photo showing Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., supposedly drinking green and pink food dyes. Others shared the photo in a meme reading, “Democrats Chug Food Dyes to Protest RFK!”
(Searcher/Truth Social)
Snopes readers asked for the truth about this claim. For example, one reader emailed, “Did Democrats drink artificial dye in protest?” Another asked, “I’m doubtful, but is this true?” A third actually attributed it to a source, writing, “Would like a fact check on a photo and article showing Elizabeth Warren and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez drinking green and pink drinks in protest of food dye outlaw. By Babylon Bee.”
Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo found no reports from any credible news media outlets about Democrats drinking food dyes in protest of Kennedy’s policies.
Rather, the rumor originated with an article (archived) published on the satirical website mentioned above, Babylon Bee. Babylon Bee’s “About” page (archived) states, in part, “The Babylon Bee is the world’s best satire site, totally inerrant in all its truth claims. We write satire about Christian stuff, political stuff and everyday life.“
The article began:
U.S. — On the heels of news that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be banning synthetic colors in the manufacturing of foods, Democrats across the country began chugging artificial food dyes as a bold act of protest.
The civil disobedience served to underscore the displeasure of citizens on the Left for what they described as oppressive fascism that would deprive them of their right to develop severe hormonal, autoimmune, and reproductive side effects, as well as put themselves at increased risk for various cancers.
Babylon Bee and Trump’s Bee tweet
“People believe it, sometimes. They can’t tell if it’s real,” Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon said of the website’s content during an October 2023 video interview (21:57) with X owner and tech billionaire Elon Musk. “I can’t blame them. I can never blame them.”
Musk responded, “Some of these articles are, I can’t tell, I mean I can tell that it doesn’t have a Bee logo on it, but the actual text of the headline is indistinguishable from a Babylon Bee piece.”
Dillon continued, “Yeah, that’s why I don’t blame people when someone says that they, you know, they make fun of people who think that satire is true. I’m like, I don’t, you know, it’s … the real headlines are so satirical in nature. They seem like a parody, so. If you believe a Bee article, it’s just … and naturally it’s gonna happen.”
U.S. President Donald Trump himself once tweeted (archived) a Babylon Bee story about Twitter supposedly shutting down entirely to suppress the spread of negative news regarding then-President Joe Biden. At the time of Trump’s tweet in October 2020, USA Today reported that Trump appeared to share the satirical story “in earnest.”
For further reading, a previous fact check examined the rumor claiming Kennedy announced he would ban artificial dyes from all American food products, effectively immediately.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources calling their output humorous or satirical.
