Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is under pressure from the White House to soften his controversial approach to vaccine policy as midterm elections approach, but his most loyal supporters are calling for more aggressive action, such as limiting the use of coronavirus vaccines and pesticides, to carry out his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
The tension threatens to fray Mr. Kennedy’s dynamic MAHA coalition and alienate key supporters who helped propel President Donald Trump to victory in the 2024 election.
The movement’s grassroots members include suburbanites, women, and independents who are generally newcomers to the Republican Party and are committed to achieving certain outcomes on the nation’s food supply and vaccines.
Health food promotions are at the top of the list and will be central to the White House’s pitch to voters during the midterm elections.
“Part of President Trump’s massive appeal is his willingness to question our nation’s broken status quo,” White House Press Secretary Khush Desai said in a statement. “This includes food standards and nutritional guidelines that have contributed to the spread of chronic disease in America. A thorough review of our food supply and nutritional standards to meet the MAHA agenda remains a key priority for both the President and his administration.”
At the same time, the White House has cooled President Kennedy’s aggressive policies to suppress vaccines and MAHA’s focus on curbing environmental chemicals linked to the disease, as most Americans oppose efforts to undermine vaccines.
As a result, Republicans are starting to realize how tough the MAHA vote is. Zen Honeycutt, leader of Mamas Across America, warned that Republicans are facing their biggest setback yet in the MAHA movement after President Trump signed an executive order supporting the production of glyphosate, a herbicide that the World Health Organization has linked to cancer.
“This caused the biggest uproar in MAHA,” Honeycutt said in a CNN interview in late February.
Is MAHA the new MAGA?play
white house warning
Tony Fabrizio, President Trump’s top pollster, warned in December that adopting President Kennedy’s anti-vaccine policies could cost politicians their jobs this year.
His poll of 1,000 voters in 35 battleground states found that eight in 10 MAHA voters, or 86% of all voters, believe vaccines save lives.
“In the races that will decide control of the House next year, Republican and Democratic candidates who support repealing long-standing vaccination mandates will pay an electoral price,” the poll notes said.
The White House has since overhauled HHS leadership, including removing Jim O’Neill from his role as deputy secretary and firing him from his role as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he cut back on the agency’s childhood vaccination recommendations. Ralph Abraham, a vaccine skeptic who halted a vaccination drive program last year as Louisiana’s Surgeon General, resigned as CDC’s principal deputy director at the end of February.
Jay Bhattacharyya, a physician who said in Congressional testimony that he does not believe vaccines cause autism, now heads the CDC in addition to leading the National Institutes of Health.
Trump himself has frequently expressed doubts and misconceptions about vaccines, but polling on anti-vaccination policies has undoubtedly shaken confidence in the White House in a difficult midterm election year, said Larry Buchshon, an Indiana Republican and former doctor who left Congress last year.
Buchshon said Republicans cannot risk alienating voters, especially parents of young children who may be swayed by Democratic attack ads on the subject at a time when there are hundreds of measles cases across the country.
“That’s why you’re seeing the White House nervous about this,” Buchshon said. “This is just a political reality.”
Kennedy built up some MAHA supporters by calling for a halt to federal approval and recommendation of coronavirus vaccines during the pandemic. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a federal panel of outside experts hand-picked by President Kennedy to develop national vaccine recommendations, is expected to review and potentially withdraw recommendations for coronavirus vaccinations. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon confirmed on March 11 that the February meeting has been postponed and that the panel will discuss COVID-19 vaccine injuries on March 18-19.
“I will not listen to calls for the need to remove mRNA coronavirus vaccine products from the market. All I can say is stay tuned and wait for the upcoming ACIP meeting,” ACIP Vice-Chairman Robert Malone said on social platform X’s conservative account MJTruthUltra before the meeting was postponed. “Even if the FDA doesn’t act, there are other agencies that will.”
No rage like scorned MAHA moms
Another central tenet of MAHA’s agenda, eliminating the use of certain pesticides on crops, also has strong bipartisan support, at more than 80%.
However, MAHA leaders were furious when President Trump issued an executive order on February 18 promoting the production of glyphosate, a chemical used in herbicides sprayed on U.S. crops, and after President Kennedy slammed glyphosate for its reported links to cancer and filed a lawsuit.
“There’s going to be ups and downs, and there’s no question this week was the downturn,” Callie Means, a senior adviser to the secretary of health and a former White House staffer, said at the MAHA rally in Austin, Texas, on February 26. “I’m not going to gaslight or sugarcoat anyone. This glyphosate incident is very disappointing. Bobby is disappointed, too.”
Despite the deep discontent of MAHA believers, Kennedy supported President Trump’s executive order defending access to such pesticides.
“I support President Trump’s executive order to bring pesticide production back to the United States and end our near-total dependence on our adversaries,” Kennedy said on social media.
Without offering policy changes, Kennedy promised a future agricultural system “less dependent on harmful chemicals.”
White House officials are now trying to downplay the executive order.
“The president’s executive order did not endorse any product or practice,” Desai said in a statement.
But it did little to assuage criticism from key MAHA influencers who had hoped to use Kennedy’s influence within the administration to get the chemical banned.
Some Democrats see a breakthrough.
Maine Rep. Cherry Pingree co-sponsored a bill with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to rescind the executive order, drawing cheers from MAHA supporters.
“The Trump administration cannot continue to pay lip service to #MAHA while propping up Big Chemical like this and choosing corporate profits over the health of the American people,” Pingree said on X.
Vani Hari, a well-known MAHA influencer who promotes healthy eating habits, responded with “HELL YES” on X.
“Eat real food”
The White House and Kennedy are refocusing messages that emphasize food, one of the most popular elements of the MAHA platform.
Earlier this year, President Kennedy announced new dietary guidelines that emphasized vegetables, fruits and meat, while urging Americans to avoid ultra-processed foods.
Kennedy is focusing on a new “Eat Real Food” campaign, which began a national tour in January. Ahead of the MAHA rally in late February, he stopped by an Austin barbecue place and posed for a photo with a pile of smoked ribs and grilled sausage. This year, a large “Eat Real Food” sign was installed to stop crowds of supporters during important announcements at HHS headquarters.
A focus on nutrition would appeal to MAHA moms, suburban voters and conservatives alike, said Michael Burgess, a Texas doctor and former Republican congressman.
“Talking about the food pyramid makes them happy,” Burgess says. “This is an area where there is broad bipartisan support.”
In fact, Fabrizio’s poll shows similar support (95%) for requiring the labeling of harmful ingredients on ultra-processed foods among respondents who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris and those who voted for Trump.
President Trump is keenly aware that Kennedy’s MAHA movement is the key to his political survival. At a Cabinet meeting in January, President Kennedy rattled off a list of agency efforts to research autism and fight high drug prices.
Mr. Trump leaned over the table.
“I read today that they think Bobby is going to be a really great addition to the Republican Party in the midterm elections, so I have to be very careful to make sure he likes us,” Trump said.
