Feud between former Trump officials exposes divisions over MAHA movement after midterm losses
WASHINGTON (AP) — A public spat between former Trump administration officials over alleged corruption in public health policymaking is the latest front in Republicans’ postelection recriminations, a battle that has exposed fault lines within the White House and could reshape political alliances involving the influential Make America Healthy Again movement.
The blowup began when Calley Means, a former top adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a chief advocate for the MAHA movement, appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast Friday and accused Susie Wiles, James Blair and others of catering to foreign and domestic lobbyists at the expense of Americans’ health.
Wiles, who was recently replaced as White House chief of staff, and Blair, a top political adviser, have denied the allegations.
Means' remarks came days after voters cast ballots in midterm elections where government corruption was among the top issues for voters who ousted Republicans and handed Democrats control of Congress.
The issue overlaps with concerns from MAHA activists, who have been focused on combating what they see as systemic and harmful corporate influence over policymaking. MAHA became an important part of Trump's coalition after Kennedy endorsed him during the last presidential campaign, and fractures could create political headaches or new avenues for congressional investigations in the coming years.
Zen Honeycutt, a former Kennedy campaign staffer and founder of the group Moms Across America, said Means is “amplifying the frustrations that a lot of MAHA folks have had the past few months and validating them." She's “excited for a new beginning” now that Trump has replaced Wiles with Stephen Miller, whom she views as more aligned with the movement.
But Honeycutt hasn’t ruled out working with Democrats, such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whom she met with in July to discuss shared environmental priorities, including the pesticide glyphosate and artificial intelligence data centers.
“The MAHA movement does not belong to any party or politician,” Honeycutt said.
On Rogan's show, Means recounted a conversation he had with Wiles about her declining to support certain MAHA initiatives because she needed donations from the sugar industry. “Calley, we can’t do this. I need sugar money," he recalled Wiles saying to him. “I need the money from the sugar people to win the midterms."
"There is a very concentrated group in the Trump administration that are antagonistic to what people voted for," Means said. Rogan's show was released Friday, shortly before Trump announced Wiles would step down as White House chief of staff.
Means was hired as a White House adviser early in the second Trump administration. He used his perch at the Health and Human Services Department to attack the nation’s leading physician groups, federal agencies and government scientists, claiming they only protect their own interests. Means left the Trump administration in October, without stating a reason for his exit.
“She has taken a stranglehold on any policy decision” impacting the MAHA movement, alongside her former lobbying firm Ballard Partners, Means said about Wiles.
Referring to Blair in the Rogan interview, Means said he has “explicitly catered to special interests against the will of the voters." He said he believed much of what he was alleging “happened without Trump’s full knowledge.”
Blair, who previously served as a White House deputy chief of staff before taking an outside role in Trump's political operation, responded on social media that he was contemplating suing Means over his statements.
In text messages between Means and Blair, viewed by The Associated Press, Blair told Means “if you get near slandering or defaming me I will sue you,“ and “if you are gonna try to knife me, I'm happy to return the favor.”
The White House denied Means’ accusations.
“The Trump Administration has never allowed and will never allow outside groups to influence policy decisions,” White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster said.
Brian Ballard, founder of Ballard Partners, denied communicating with top White House officials on glyphosate and other issues in a statement posted on social media.
The extraordinary public fight, which was continuing on social media Monday, comes after MAHA had grown disenchanted over some of the administration's moves.
In recent months, many grassroots MAHA activists who had initially hoped to collaborate with Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency had soured on the agency and the administration, viewing them as infiltrated by lobbyist interests.
They pointed to various insiders in the agricultural and chemical industries who’d secured high-level positions in the EPA and blamed them for the administration’s failure to pass meaningful reforms to address microplastics in drinking water or pesticides on farms.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin promised last December to unveil a formal agenda of MAHA policies he would act on. But by the summer, the so-called MAHA agenda had never surfaced, and an EPA spokesperson told the AP that MAHA is an ongoing effort, rather than a single report.
That apparent reversal prompted several activists to say they planned to vote on issues over party in November’s elections.
“People are done with the profits of corporations being prioritized over public health,” Alexandra Muñoz, a molecular toxicologist who collaborates with MAHA activists on certain issues, told the AP in July. “And I think that will have an important role in the midterms.”
The simmering MAHA frustration, coupled with Means' allegations, could put MAHA support in play for Democrats, something Means himself suggested over the weekend.
“There’s a lot of complicated issues that I’m sure Democrats are going to want to address. But when it comes to these issues on MAHA, I think there is huge opportunity in the next year to get some big things done," he told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
But doing so poses its own complications.
Democrats who will take over both chambers of Congress next year could use Means’ statements as a vehicle to begin investigations into White House officials. Some Democrats have long sought to investigate Kennedy over his upending of vaccine policy and his vast cuts to science research, among other decisions. Pushing hard against Kennedy, however, could complicate efforts to build closer ties with MAHA supporters, many of whom still view the health secretary positively.
Means’ interviews included a profuse defense of Kennedy, who some have speculated could attempt another run for president in 2028. Means called Kennedy a “hero” on the podcast interview.
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