On July 31, President Donald Trump signed an executive order reviving the Presidential Fitness Test and the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.
The executive order explains: “For far too long, the physical and mental health of the American people has been neglected. Rates of obesity, chronic disease, inactivity and poor nutrition are at crisis levels, particularly among our children.”
One of the council members is Lawrence Julius Taylor, who pled guilty in 2011 to two misdemeanor charges of sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute after having sex with a 16-year-old girl who was being sex trafficked.
He is on the sex offender registry for this crime.
Taylor spoke during a White House press conference announcing the decision to revive the fitness council, which focuses on the health of youth in America. Addressing the president, he said: “I’m just proud to be on this team. I don’t know why. I don’t know what we’re supposed to be doing. But I’m here to serve and I’m here to serve you.”
Although he may not know “what we’re supposed to be doing,” the choice has been made to place a sex offender who abused a teenage girl on a council that will make decisions about the health and well-being of America’s children and youth.
The executive order reviving this council is part of the administration’s goal to “Make America Healthy Again” by changing the landscape of health and wellness standards. This has included changes in vaccination requirements, the removal of ingestible fluoride in our drinking water and more.
In an article about the executive order, the administration described the council as “a natural extension of the Trump administration’s aim to end the childhood chronic disease epidemic and foster the next generation of healthy, active citizens.”
And among the numerous changes that will impact the health of Americans, this statement contrasts with what is actually going on in the world of American health.
“This statement contrasts with what is actually going on in the world of American health.”
Particularly relevant to American children and youth is the recent passing of Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” which makes severe cuts to Medicaid and other support programs for individuals living in poverty. With these cuts to government programs, many children will not have the health care they need.
“Young children are the age group most likely to live in poverty” according to an analysis of U.S. Census data published by Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families in 2023. More than 40% of young children in the U.S. are covered by Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP. Among low-income children across the states, 75% are insured this way.
In Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Oklahoma, more than half of all children under age 6 are insured by Medicaid/CHIP.
For pregnant people and newborns, Medicaid also finances 40% of births in the U.S. and covers additional services infants might need in the NICU or from their pediatrician. Access to this coverage has improved health for these children born into poverty and lowered their rates of adult disability.
But instead of helping their families shoulder the cost of life-saving medical expenses and wellness resources, the administration seems to believe passing the fitness gram pacer test and other challenges in gym class will keep kids from developing poor health conditions.
And maybe America’s children will run faster or have slightly better aerobic stamina while exercising. But will our children really be healthier if most of them lack the health care resources they need to treat illnesses, chronic diseases and help prevent them from experiencing long-term health complications?
And just a reminder: Statistics show at least one in four girls and one in 13 boys in the U.S. experience sexual abuse before their 18th birthday. The trauma they endure from these experiences has long-term impacts on their physical, emotional and social well-being.
But yes, let’s have our kids follow a fitness plan charged by a sex offender.
Mallory Challis
Mallory Challis is a master of divinity student at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. She is a former Clemons Fellow with BNG.
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The attack on comprehensive sexual education, from federal law to the SBC | Analysis by Mallory Challis