What’s Going On With Maha? Calley Means Resigns.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.

I.  Politico reported RFK Jr.’s movement now has corporate sponsors: The upcoming Make America Healthy Again Summit is brought to you by companies with business before the Health Department.

II. And then we have Protect Our Care’s contributions.

a.  “MAHA Betrayed“: Trump and RFK Jr. promised MAHA voters they would take on Big Ag, Big Chemical and Big Pharma. Then they took industry money and gave those industries what they wanted, a new report on how Trump, RFK Jr sold out movement to toxic corporate interests.

b.  RFK Jr. Scandal-Palooza.  It said RFK Jr:

• Is selling corporate access to himself for as much as $300,000 at next week’s Make America Healthy Again Summit.
•  Took more than $250,000 worth of free flights to Fiji and Greece plus use of a swanky vacation home from a supporter who wants god knows what.
•  Is raiding $12 million from the Office of Minority Health to help pay for his own security, even as the “secretary’s office has a large pot of discretionary money that it could have tapped for the cost.”
•  Gobbled up “$4 million in book advances and more than $270,000 in gifts over the past year from close allies who are working to advance his [MAHA] agenda”, which “may violate federal rules barring officials from profiting from their government position.”

c.  The MAHA Promises scorecard.  Its headline: Trump, RFK Jr broke 85% of their promises to MAHA.  Here’s the account from NBC News: MAHA loyalists accuse Trump administration of ‘broken promises’

III.  A poll from AP-KFF poll found 68 percent of rural MAHA supporters say “Trump hasn’t improved health of their communities.”

IV.  Last but not least, RJK Jr’s chief advisor, Calley Means, resigned.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Means announced his resignation, but gave no reason.  The press speculates that he resigned on principle: the White House’s position on glyphosate and its foot dragging on a definition of ultra-processed foods.

Principle?  Calley Means?

Recall my weirdly inexplicable interactions with him.

• Setting the record straight: Calley Means
• A special thank you to readers for comments on “Setting the Record Straight: Calley Means

I’m having a hard time believing he resigned on principle. But I’ve seen no hint of firing or forced resignation in the press.

If indeed he resigned over the definition of ultra-processed food, the irony is astonishing.

But his resignation is big news. Food Stocks Jump as Top MAHA Ally Departs (!)

Shares in General Mills gained 8 percent, while Kraft Heinz shares closed up 6.7 percent. Campbell’s stock ended the session 8.7 percent higher, and Conagra rose 7.2 percent.

Thanks to The Hagstrom Report for links:

• Wall Street Journal – Calley Means, a top RFK Jr. adviser, quits Trump administration
• The New York Times – Key Trump health adviser resigns ahead of midterm elections
• The Washington Post – RFK Jr. ally Calley Means quits Trump administration amid food agenda delays
• Wall Street Journal — The MAHA-MAGA Alliance Is Fracturing Before the Midterms

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