It was a MAHA Blast Bust. Trump health secretary RFK Jr knew how it’d look leading a so-called MAHA Summit bankrolled by corporate special interests and selling private access to himself for a cool $300,000. He just didn’t care, like when he casually flip-flopped and learned to love glyphosate. And longtime MAHA activists certainly weren’t shy about their frustration with the blatant corporate capture RFK Jr used to rail against.
Yes, nothing says MAHA like giving big health insurance executives, of all people, a marquee summit panel called “Affordability First”. Or letting disgraced comic Russell Brand inexplicably moderate a CMS policy panel while cracking jokes about his rape charges, which Dr. Oz found hilarious.
The Trump officials involved in the Summit may have laughed all the way to the bank, but at a cost of alienating MAHA supporters — support Donald Trump is already hemorrhaging. A new AP poll found a staggering 68% of rural MAHA supporters “said the Trump administration’s policies have had a negative effect or no impact on the health of people where they live.” What’s next: sending Russell Brand to Iowa on a diplomatic mission?
Trump CDC In Shambles: A bombshell NYT report reveals the CDC is in even more dire condition than suspected. Dozens of insiders paint a grim picture of a ‘Zombified’ agency, badly impaired after losing a third of its staff, while unqualified Trump political appointees call the shots and bumble through public health crises hitting Americans from all directions. As Protect Our Care president Brad Woodhouse notes: “Investigations are coming, but resignations should come much sooner.”
Measles Deaths Increase While Trump Demonizes the Solution: Tragically, PA health officials reported a fifth measles-associated death in the commonwealth that’s suffered 943 confirmed cases in 39 counties, mostly among the unvaccinated. The out-of-control crisis hasn’t stopped Donald Trump from pursuing his reckless executive orderobstructing the strongest and most effective weapon against it, the MMR vaccine.
Profiles in Cowardice: The worsening measles crisis also didn’t stop Senators Bill Cassidy and Susan Collins from rubber stamping Nicole Saphier’s nomination for Trump Surgeon General despite her disqualifying vaccine skepticism and investments in Big Tobacco.
RFK Jr’s Raid on Infant Mortality Programs for Own Benefit Draws Congressional Ire: The Chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus are not taking kindly to walking corruption scandal RFK Jr’s move to rob Office of Minority Health resources ‘to Beef Up His Entourage’.
In The News
Infectious Disease Outbreaks and Public Health Threats
Measles
- NBC: Pennsylvania reports 5th measles-related death in the state
- NBC: America had wiped out measles. Now babies are infected at birth.
- The Guardian: CDC reports second measles death in US while excluding Pennsylvania deaths
- New Republic: Pennsylvania Nears 1,000 Measles Cases as RFK Jr. Remains Silent
Foodborne Illness
The GOP War on Vaccines Will Have Deadly Consequences
- CIDRAP: Most Americans confused about RFK Jr’s stance on measles vaccine as views dim of his ability to rein in outbreaks
- Inside Health Policy: Poll Shows Americans Confused On RFK Jr.’s MMR Views
- Politico: RFK Jr.’s future aides say they disagree with his vaccine views
- Associated Press: CDC vaccine policy recommendations grind to a halt under Health Secretary Kennedy
- The Hill (Richard Sauber): Opinion: The vital vaccine shield America cannot afford to lose
Chaos and Corruption At HHS
Research Cuts
- CNBC: NIH funding cuts delayed a promising childhood brain cancer trial. Patients lost time they didn’t have
- Stat: White House plan to increase control of NIH grants appears ‘dead’
- Stat: NIH awarded all its grant funding, but delayed and opaque decisions stymied researchers
International Health
- New York Times: U.S. Rejects U.N. Declaration on Preparing for Future Pandemics
- CNN: The Trump administration said it would prioritize ending mother-to-child HIV transmission. Health workers say it cut services
RFK’s Agenda
Food
- Washington Post: White House has not acted on RFK Jr.’s push for proof ultra-processed foods are safe
- Wall Street Journal: RFK Jr.’s Push to Revamp American Food Runs Into White House Resistance
- USA Today: RFK Jr. says he faced ‘pressure campaign’ to add Oreo ice cream on food pyramid
Autism
AI
- Politico: MAHA’s AI bet
- The Guardian: RFK Jr outlines expansive vision for collecting US health data at Maha event
- Ars Technica: RFK Jr. thinks AI will free us from the “tyranny” of medical facts, expertise
- Stat: Why MAHA wants to make health data much more accessible
- Bloomberg: RFK Jr.’s Big Claims for AI in Healthcare Don’t Pass Reality Checks
- MedPage Today: Doctors Push Back on RFK Jr.’s AI Comments
Women & LGBTQ Health
- Reuters: US House Democratic Women’s Caucus press health secretary on estrogen patch shortages
- NPR: What’s behind HHS claims that gender-affirming care ‘may’ radicalize
Grift and Corruption
- Politico: Dems renew scrutiny into RFK Jr.’s finances
- The Hill: Senate Democrats question if Kennedy struck a deal in vaccine lawsuit
- NPR: RFK Jr.’s ethics filing reveals book deals worth millions of dollars
- Associated Press: Democrats press RFK Jr. on an ethics agreement change involving law firm fees
MAHA Betrayed
- Washington Sun: A Biological Age Test and Russell Brand: How Trump Officials Spent a Day With MAHA
- Associated Press: Rural MAHA followers say Trump hasn’t improved health of their communities, an AP-KFF poll finds
- Wonkette: MAHA Summit To Bring Together JD Vance, AI, A Convicted Rapist, An Accused Rapist, Literal Snake Oil, And Fast Food
- Washington Examiner: MAHA activists upset over corporate sponsorship for summit featuring RFK Jr. and Vance
- Financial Times: Maha split shows all is not well with Kennedy’s US health revolution
- MS Now: At MAHA Summit, RFK Jr.’s base asks if its champion is selling out
- Stat: At MAHA Summit, a grassroots movement goes corporate
- The Atlantic: MAHA Gone Mild
RFK, MAHA and the 2026 Elections
- Politico: House Dems to Jeffries: Woo RFK Jr.’s followers
- Fox News (Clare Ath): Opinion: MAHA moms are still up for grabs this election. They want more than cheap groceries
- Washington Post: This Senate Democratic candidate is making a play for RFK Jr.’s MAHA supporters
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