Make America Healthy Again. What RFK Jr. Wants to ‘Make America Again.’ He Doesn’t Wanna Lose a Lot
“There are some things that RFK Jr. gets right,” says former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden. We need to stick with the science and avoid simplistic solutions when there’s a chronic disease crisis in this country.
The Republican Party does not like regulation and it will face a lot of challenges in pushing through reforms against industry interests.
They’re going to want to cut regulations because of the desire to cut government. They did under Trump’s first term, they’re going to be more systematic about it even now,” says Popkin.
“I would tell anyone skeptical about this, to look at the positives here,” he says. “This MAHA agenda is one of the golden areas for true bipartisan reform.”
He says Kennedy’s approach will be to insist on what he terms “accurate science” and adds that “it’s Congress’ job to allocate money. Congress needs to figure out how to correct the broken subsidy systems that led to this poisoning of the American consumer.
Overhauling dietary guidelines, reforming federal programs that pay for ultra-processed foods, taking on crop subsidies, potentially banning pesticides and chemicals are just some of the priorities Kennedy outlined during the campaign.
The first administration of Trump made decisions that ran against some of the priorities of MAHA, including approving dangerous pesticide products and easing nutrition rules for school lunches.
Source: RFK Jr. wants to ‘Make America Healthy Again.’ He could face a lot of pushback
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Dr. Randall Stafford says he’s excited by the idea of addressing the root causes of chronic diseases. “But I’m not sure that those goals are consistent with other goals to deregulate the economy.”
It is surprising that researchers are still trying to take into account the broader Trump agenda despite the recent attention on lifestyle related diseases.
“I think this is a unique opportunity,” says Hyman, who is the founder of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine and co-founder of Function Health. Because Trump is a guy who does burn-down-the-house. Bobby is not interested in simply making a change.
Dr.Mark Hyman, a friend of Kennedy and author of many books on nutrition, said he’s faced ” massive” resistance when he advocated for changes to the food supply.
He refers to the revolving door between industry and government, the fees pharmaceutical companies pay to the FDA, and experts that sit on advisory panels or carry out government-funded research.
He says the public health expert class has led to a public health collapse. At worst, a society collapse with 20% of GDP going to health expenditures is on the verge. We’re becoming sicker, fat, more depressed and infertile for every dollar we spend.
Source: RFK Jr. wants to ‘Make America Healthy Again.’ He could face a lot of pushback
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Means was a lobbyist for the food and drug industry before joining the MAHA. He and his sister publishing a book on metabolic health catapulted them into the political sphere. Both have business ventures in the health and wellness industry.
The voters saw the big ideas were being talked about, despite the media’s effort to get them to think about fringe areas like vaccines or fluoride, says Means. “I think a spiritual connection was hit.”
Public health researchers note that what Kennedy is setting out to do — even wielding the power of a major federal agency — is an immensely tall order. Many people are skeptical about how effective the mission will be in a Republican-controlled federal government.
And yet there’s no denying there are areas of substantial overlap between the goals of MAHA and scientists who have long advocated for tackling the root causes of chronic illness.
Kennedy, a former Democrat and scion of the wealthy political family, first rose to prominence as an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist. Around 2015, he joined the board of the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, which alleges that conditions like autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are caused by environmental factors, including harmful agents in vaccines. Kennedy has repeatedly spread misinformation about vaccines and in 2021 was named by the Center for Countering Digital Hate as one of the “disinformation dozen,” spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic across Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run the Department of Health and Human Services. At a campaign event in New York in October, Trump said he would let Kennedy go crazy on health and that it was an implied promise.
The Making of America Healthy Again Campaign: Paul J. Kennedy and the Donald J. Trump Transition Team During the November 2016 General Rerelection Campaign
MAHA has set its sights on big food and big pharma, arguing that these industries use lobbying power to maximize profits at the expense of the country’s health.
This message helped mobilize the electorate during the final portion of the election as Kennedy raised concerns about nutrition and the harms of pesticides and industrial agriculture, among other issues.
Calley Means, an advisor to Kennedy and the Trump transition team, spoke to NPR before Kennedy’s nomination, and said that Bobby Kennedy and the Trump team had become friends because of their distrust of institutions and corruption.
Barry Popkin, professor of nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, says he’d welcome substantive policy changes that tackle diet-related illnesses like obesity and diabetes.
Kennedy’s position is still dependent upon congressional approval. The past leaders of HHS have worked in the public health field before they became the head. A Republican-controlled Senate could point to Kennedy’s career as a Democrat and his inconsistent views on abortion as reasons to block his accession.
In August, Kennedy suspended his campaign and threw his support behind Trump, saying, “If President Trump is elected and honors his word, the vast burden of chronic disease that burdens and bankrupts the country will disappear.” He launched the slogan to make America healthy again, focusing on protecting natural habitats and eliminating toxins from our food, water, and air.
Kennedy’s account was banned from Instagram in 2021 for spreading vaccine misinformation. His account was restored in 2023, when he announced his run for office.
He has suggested, in contradiction to all reputable scientific research, that Covid-19 may have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people and that HIV does not cause AIDS, and has implied that vaccine mandates are worse than the Holocaust. He said in a 2012 deposition that part of his brain had been eaten by a worm.