The White House can’t explain why its “Make America Healthy Again” commission report cited studies that don’t exist.
The report, released last week by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services, projected a new vision for America’s health policy that would take aim at childhood vaccines, ultra-processed foods, and pesticides. But during a White House press briefing Thursday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt skirted around answering questions regarding seven citations for studies that researchers say were either wildly misinterpreted or had never occurred at all.
Instead, Leavitt blamed the report’s errors on “formatting issues,” but couldn’t confidently deny whether or not HHS had used artificial intelligence to draft the 68-page report.
“Does the White House have confidence that the info coming from HHS can be trusted?” asked NOTUS’s Jasmine Wright. A NOTUS investigation published earlier Thursday first reported the inconsistencies.
“I understand there were some formatting issues with the MAHA report that are being addressed and it will be updated, but it does not negate the substance of the report,” Leavitt said, lauding the Kennedy report as one of the most “transformative reports ever released by the federal government” and adding that it was backed by “good science” that had “never been recognized” at the national level.
“Quick follow-up, can you talk about what tools or research goes into the production of these kinds of reports? For instance, is it AI that’s used to put together these reports now?” Wright pressed.
“I can’t speak to that, I’d defer you to the Department of Health and Human Services. What I know is what I told you,” Leavitt responded.
NOTUS: A NOTUS investigation found that the MAHA commission report cites studies that appear to not exist. Does the WH have confidence that the info coming from HHS can be trusted?LEAVITT: Yes. I understand there were some formatting issues, but it does not negate the substance… pic.twitter.com/i1d5SMlGYy
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 29, 2025
NOTUS found that the MAHA report was riddled with errors, including links that don’t work, incorrectly drawn conclusions, and even studies that appear to have been invented out of thin air.
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