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A typical day in my life starts with eating a significant dose of Red 40 and some highly processed, pesticide-covered grain, a swig of seed oils and injecting at least a couple of vaccines in the arm. Or so some of the “Make America Healthy Again” politicians and influencers would like to think.
The MAHA slogan is largely associated with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was sworn in as the Secretary of Health and Human Services last month. His platform is largely based on criticizing certain types of foods, compounds found in foods, traditional vaccination and drinking water treatments.
The irony of the entire MAHA movement is that it does nothing to truly combat the biggest threats to American health while simultaneously dismantling the structures we have in place to protect it. The Trump administration has already made several cuts to National Institute of Health (NIH) research funding and projects.
Further, the administration has undermined other federal agencies that exist to protect public health, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration. This has been orchestrated by firing employees, ending various initiatives and weakening or eliminating previous rules and regulations.
On Feb. 28, Elon Musk, a current senior advisor to President Trump and head of the newly named Department of Government Efficiency, shared his opinion on vaccinations on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. “I think we should have some reasonable number of vaccines against major ailments, but I don’t think we should be jamming some little kid with a giant vial that’s 20 different things at a time,” he said. “It seems like there’s a risk of overloading your immune system.” The episode currently has 12 million views.
It is irresponsible to the American public for Musk to sit on a podcast that will get millions of views making claims that have to do with scientific principles and research that you do not understand. The truth is that no child is receiving 20 vaccines at one time and that the recommended vaccination timeline has been developed through long, intensive research into vaccine safety and efficacy.
Currently, the US is facing a significant measles outbreak, with over 200 cases reported, while Kennedy continues to peddle misinformation surrounding other treatment and prevention options beyond simply achieving a high overall vaccination rate that stops the spread of the deadly virus entirely.
While many social media posts about MAHA concern fear-mongering over “chemicals” in our food, these people simultaneously seem content with weakening the only systems we currently have in place to combat the harmful effects of profit-driven companies and practices.
If you do not want glyphosate used on our crops, you should support allowing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to harness career experts who protect our interests beyond profit — strengthening programs like environmental justice and enforcing regulations that protect clean drinking water and commercial products. If you do not want to become ill, you should support sensible, scientifically researched vaccination recommendations as opposed to politicians who spew nonsense claims on podcasts that misconstrue vaccine safety and efficacy.
To combat the misinformation and misdirected anger being spread concerning public health, we must call out people who push or fall prey to the idea that weakening government agencies will somehow make our food healthier and that personal supplementation and dietary choices are effective at combatting contagious diseases. Stay up to date on vaccines and encourage others to do the same, contact your representatives to express your support for federal agencies like the NIH and EPA, and check information you hear or read online about the danger of certain foods and compounds.
If we keep allowing government officials and social media influencers to carry out the hypocrisy and public health nightmare that is MAHA, the grave consequences will only continue to grow.
Leila Faraday (she/her) is a junior studying policy analysis with minors in geography and urban planning.
