Politico reports:

The Make America Healthy Again coalition, made up largely of women who followed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. into the MAGA fold, has reached the end of its rope with the Trump administration.

Now many among the group of vaccine skeptics and healthy food crusaders say their vote is up for grabs in the midterms after a string of perceived losses on pesticides and chemical regulations, not to mention disappointing leadership picks and an unpopular war in Iran.

“We thought we were getting a different administration that wanted to stand up to special interests, stand up to the pharmaceutical industry, stand up to the food companies, stand up to Big Ag, Big Chem. And that is not what we got. What we have right now is business as usual,” said Vani Hari, a leader in the MAHA movement known as Food Babe who rose to prominence through her fight against chemicals in food.

“We’re going to vote for whatever candidate puts the health of our children first,” Hari said. “I don’t have loyalty to anybody. And a lot of people feel that way within the MAHA movement.”

But the administration is banking on holding the MAHA coalition, even though the White House knows it hasn’t been able to make its constituency entirely happy, said an administration official and a former administration official, both granted anonymity to discuss the sentiment.

The administration “understands the anger, they hear it all day long,” said the former administration official.

“They’re hoping that at the end of the day, it comes down to votes, and Republicans have done way more on the MAHA issues than Democrat administrations ever have, and those results and that action will speak for itself,” the person added. “That is what the White House is gambling.”

But some in the MAHA coalition already feel the White House has washed its hands.

Kelly Ryerson, a MAHA influencer who runs a group that promotes regenerative farming and has met with senior White House officials on pesticide policy, said it feels like the administration has made a “calculation” to move on from MAHA.

“The swing Kennedy people aren’t going to show up at this point,” Ryerson said about the midterms.

In a statement, White House spokesman Kush Desai defended Trump’s record and criticized Democrats who “colluded with teacher unions to push school closures and implemented one intrusive mandate after another during the COVID era,” stances that many within MAHA unified in opposing.

“Delivering on the MAHA agenda has been a presidential priority since Day One, and no administration has done more to address America’s multi-faceted chronic disease epidemic than the Trump Administration,” Desai said.

The torn relationship on display is a far cry from the moment some describe as the peak of the movement: a January rally at HHS where Kennedy and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, flanked by supporters, rolled out new dietary guidelines with sleek digital branding and a polished mantra to “Eat real food.”

And the administration was successful in getting agreement from a handful of major food companies to remove synthetic dyes from food. HHS has also attempted to pare back the number of vaccines recommended for children. The MAHA movement hailed both as victories.

But multiple White House actions supporting the pesticide industry this spring ignited a firestorm of backlash from MAHA advocates who consider pesticides a primary toxin in the food system. The frustration continued with a proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule to roll back limits on four “forever chemicals” that contaminate millions of Americans’ drinking water and are linked to health problems. Former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary’s resignation and Casey Means’ failed nomination for U.S. surgeon general deepened disappointment that true believers in the movement were being sidelined.

The administration’s support for Bayer, owner of Monsanto and the country’s largest producer of pesticides, in a case before the Supreme Court that could grant the company a liability shield from cancer lawsuits, prompted enough backlash that some MAHA moms flew in from around the country to protest.

And some recent efforts by the administration to deliver MAHA wins have backfired, underscoring how brittle the trust is between Washington and the movement. Some MAHA advocates ultimately rejected a Department of Agriculture initiative to grow more cotton in the U.S., which Rollins touted as a way to increase clothing with less synthetic chemicals. But movement advocates saw it as a masked gift to the pesticide industry.

“I wouldn’t vote for Trump [again],” said Hannah Dunning, a MAHA influencer who posts about chemical-free clothing. “He’s shown his true colors. Come on.”

“I don’t think Trump is concerned about health in any way, shape or form. I think he’s concerned about votes or his own legacy, and at this point, you know, not needing the votes, I think that’s why we’re seeing some more disregard of the MAHA movement,” Dunning said.

The MAHA movement sees the recent wins it has achieved, such as working with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) to get a pesticide industry liability shield removed from legislation in Congress, as evidence of how the grassroots momentum “is extremely alive” in spite of disappointments with the White House.

“I think that we’re frustrated, but we’re not throwing in the towel. I think we’re starting to think and organize around 2028,” Ryerson said.

Alex Clark, a lifelong Republican who hosts a wellness podcast produced by the conservative group Turning Point USA, has been one of the most outspoken critics of her party, urging the White House to engage more on MAHA.

“I want to keep this voter coalition for the GOP very selfishly, because I am a conservative, and I don’t want the Democrats to come in guns blazing in 2028 and then suddenly say they’re MAHA, and then take those votes from us, which they very well could do,” she said.

“The fear is this was a bait and switch to use us for our votes and then do nothing that we voted for, so if we turn that into a reality, there will be such immense backlash against the GOP for years to come.”

The Trump administration and Republicans have heard the MAHA frustration, but see it as normal growing pains for a coalition government that is weighing competing interests and can’t please everyone, according to the former administration official and current administration official.

“They’re not going to sweat every tweet,” said the former administration official. “You literally can’t make everyone happy and I think the MAHA advocates should be grateful for the wins they’ve been able to achieve.” [Continue reading…]