Rfk Jr.’s Followers Will Help The Gop In Midterms, Kennedy Adviser Tells Politico’s Health Summit

A senior White House adviser said the Make America Healthy Again movement is united with President Donald Trump’s MAGA base going into the crucial midterm election campaign.

“Even the people who have been critical of the administration, they are all in for this administration. … There is a choice here. Democrats have not lifted a single finger on these issues,” said Calley Means at POLITICO’s Health Care Summit on Tuesday.

“If we can solidify this MAHA movement into MAGA and the political system … the country is going to be in a good place,” he added.

Means’ endorsement of the alliance arrives as the Trump administration recalibrates its messaging on MAHA to focus on popular agenda items like nutrition and Trump’s efforts to lower drug prices. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to tour key battleground states later this year to tout his MAHA agenda and rally support for the Republican Party.

Leaders of the MAHA movement have pledged millions to help elect MAHA-friendly Republicans in the upcoming election, which will shape Trump’s remaining years in office. The MAHA Political Action Committee, whose mission is “to elect Republicans to the House and Senate in 2026” who will support the MAHA agenda, has committed $100 million to the effort.

MAHA supporters have clashed with the Trump administration on recent actions related to pesticides. In February, the White House signed an executive order to boost production of glyphosate, a herbicide commonly known as RoundUp. A ban on glyphosate has been a key priority for the MAHA movement, and Trump’s order exposes underlying tensions within the MAHA-MAGA coalition.

Means defended the recent order on glyphosate and said the administration is working in “lockstep” with Kennedy on policy. “There’s inevitably going to be ups and downs. …We’re talking to MAHA advocates about this. We cannot do anything right now that makes life harder for farmers,” he said.

The White House extended an olive branch to MAHA advocates earlier this month, meeting with prominent influencers, including Kelly Ryerson, who goes by “Glyphosate Girl,” and Alex Clark, who runs a wellness podcast associated with Turning Point USA, the conservative organization founded by Charlie Kirk.

Some of Kennedy’s most vocal supporters have also recently taken issue with Trump’s nomination of Erica Schwartz to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Schwartz, who served at the health department in Trump’s first term and isn’t known for questioning vaccines, was seen as an establishment choice for the position.

Means backed Schwartz’s nomination for the CDC but also issued support for the administration’s controversial changes to the nation’s vaccine policies.

“We’re not apologizing for what’s happened on vaccines,” he said.

Calley Means’ sister, Casey Means, faces an uphill battle to be confirmed as Trump’s pick for surgeon general. Casey Means was pressed by senators of both parties on her views about vaccines at her nomination hearing in February and lacks the votes for confirmation.

At POLITICO’s summit, Calley Means reiterated that his sister was the MAHA choice for the position.

“I don’t think it's the right moment to have a defender of the status quo,” he said. “Casey is the best possible advocate in this critical moment.”