Honeycutt says MAHA has no party; she has not ruled out Democrats
Several Make America Healthy Again activists are weighing whether to align with a political party after the midterm elections, with some activists saying they had planned to vote on issues over party in November. Zen Honeycutt, a former Kennedy campaign staffer and founder of Moms Across America, said the movement does not belong to any party or politician. She had not ruled out working with Democrats, including 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.
Honeycutt said Means was “amplifying the frustrations that a lot of MAHA folks have had the past few months and validating them.” She said she was “excited for a new beginning” after Trump replaced Wiles with Stephen Miller, whom she views as more aligned with the movement.
The party debate overlaps with concerns among MAHA activists, who have focused on combating what they see as systemic and harmful corporate influence over policymaking. The public dispute between former Trump administration officials over alleged corruption in public-health policymaking exposed disagreements among White House officials and could reshape political alliances involving MAHA.
The dispute surfaced days after voters ousted Republicans and handed Democrats control of Congress, with government corruption among the top issues for those voters. Republicans were seeking to explain their midterm losses. MAHA became an important part of Trump’s coalition after Kennedy endorsed him during the previous presidential campaign. Fractures could create political headaches or open new avenues for congressional investigations in the coming years.
Means alleges lobbying influence over MAHA policy
In an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast Friday, Calley Means, a former top adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a chief advocate for the MAHA movement, accused Susie Wiles, James Blair and others of catering to foreign and domestic lobbyists at the expense of Americans’ health.
Means said he had spoken with Wiles about her refusal to support certain MAHA initiatives because she needed donations from the sugar industry. He recalled her saying, “Calley, we can’t do this. I need sugar money,” and “I need the money from the sugar people to win the midterms.”
Means also said, “There is a very concentrated group in the Trump administration that are antagonistic to what people voted for.” 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 and used his position at the Health and Human Services Department to attack leading physician groups, federal agencies and government scientists, claiming they protected only their own interests. Means left the administration in October without stating a reason for his departure.
Means also said Wiles, working alongside her former lobbying firm, Ballard Partners, had taken a “stranglehold on any policy decision” affecting the MAHA movement. Referring to Blair, Means said Blair had “explicitly catered to special interests against the will of the voters.” Means said he believed much of what he was alleging “happened without Trump’s full knowledge.”
Wiles, Blair and White House deny claims
Susie Wiles, the recently replaced White House chief of staff, and James Blair, a top political adviser, denied the allegations. 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 considering suing Means over his statements.
In text messages between the men viewed by the Associated Press, Blair warned 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 also denied Means’ accusations. White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster said, “The Trump Administration has never allowed and will never allow outside groups to influence policy decisions.” Brian Ballard, founder of Ballard Partners, denied communicating with top White House officials about glyphosate and other issues in a statement posted on social media. By Monday, the dispute was continuing on social media.
EPA delays deepen grassroots frustration
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 had secured high-level positions at the EPA and blamed those hires for the administration’s failure to pass reforms addressing 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. By summer, the so-called MAHA agenda had never surfaced, and an EPA spokesperson told the Associated Press that MAHA was 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. Alexandra Muñoz, a molecular toxicologist who collaborates with MAHA activists on certain issues, told the Associated Press in July that “People are done with the profits of corporations being prioritized over public health.” She added, “And I think that will have an important role in the midterms.”
Congressional investigations and the MAHA coalition
The simmering MAHA frustration, coupled with Means’ allegations, could put MAHA support in play for Democrats, something Means himself suggested over the weekend. In a CBS “Face the Nation” interview, Means said, “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.”
Democrats taking 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 changes to 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 because many still view the health secretary positively.
Means’ interviews also included a defense of Kennedy, whom some have speculated could attempt another run for president in 2028. Means called Kennedy a “hero” on the Rogan podcast.