Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed gratitude for President Donald Trump's alleged efforts to increase the sperm count of young men.
During an event on Monday to introduce the moms.gov maternal health website, Kennedy pointed to a "fertility crisis in this country right now."
"We just found out that we've dropped out at 1.57%," he said. "The replacement rate is 2.1. 100 years ago, we were at 3.27, so more than double that we are today. We are approaching the cataclysmic rates that Japan and China are now experiencing, that is threatening their economy."
"President Trump has directed my agency to find out the cause of the fertility crisis," he continued. "I've tried to figure it out. The fertility crisis for women began in 2007. For men in 1970, men had twice the sperm count as our teenagers do today."
Kennedy called men's sperm count "an existential crisis for our country."
"We had a series of presidents that we're trying to discourage childbirth and motherhood in this country," he added. "We now have a president that is trying to encourage it, and I want to thank you again for your leadership."
"Thank you very much, Bobby," Trump replied.