Trump’s Surgeon General Pick Is Tearing the MAHA Movement Apart

Means’ nomination was announced on Wednesday after Trump withdrew his nomination of Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a former Fox News contributor whose résumé has been questioned in recent weeks.

“Casey has impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials, and will work closely with our wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to ensure a successful implementation of our Agenda in order to reverse the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and ensure Great Health, in the future, for ALL Americans,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

However, on Thursday when asked by a reporter why he chose Means, Trump admitted: “I don’t know her, I listened to the recommendation of Bobby.”

Means, the White House, and Kennedy did not respond to requests for comment on the criticism about the nomination.

A spokesperson for HHS pointed WIRED to a post on X by Kennedy, in which he defended Means and suggested the criticism was coming from Big Pharma: “I have little doubt that these companies and their conflicted media outlets will continue to pay bloggers and other social media influencers to weaponize innuendo to slander and vilify Casey, the same way they try to defame me and President Trump,” Kennedy wrote.

When asked which criticism specifically Kennedy was referencing, HHS did not respond.

In an interview on Fox News broadcast on Thursday evening, Kennedy dismissed Shanahan’s claims he was in some way controlled, saying that “the entire leadership of this agency are renegades who are juggernauts against convention.”

The position of surgeon general is described by the HHS as “the nation’s doctor,” tasked with “providing Americans with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce the risk of illness and injury.”

But many within the mainstream medical profession have raised serious questions about Means’ ability to fulfil this role, given the 37-year-old’s lack of credentials.

Means has not held an active license to practise medicine since 2019 and despite calling herself a “former surgeon” on her LinkedIn, Means never completed her surgical training at Oregon Health and Science University, dropping out a bit over four years into a five-year residency.

Means is also a proponent of “functional medicine,” a holistic approach to medicine which is viewed by many as pseudoscience because of the lack of robust scientific evidence to back up treatments and claims.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Means wrote on Twitter that “many (if not most) COVID-19 deaths could be prevented w optimal metabolic health.” In an op-ed published by The Hill during the height of the pandemic, Means appeared to put the blame for people’s deaths on their poor dietary choices, calling COVID-19 “a Darwinian moment for America” and adding that “Americans must build personal immunity defenses through radical changes in diet and exercise, or risk getting sick and dying.”

She also appears to be against hormonal birth control, telling Tucker Carlson that suppressing the menstrual cycle reflects “a disrespect of life.”

And despite the anger of leading anti-vaccine activists, Means has repeatedly voiced fringe and disproven views on the topic.