A pro-MAGA Real America’s Voice host declared he won’t wear a single drop of sunscreen on an upcoming Florida trip — then played a clip of an anti-medicine influencer arguing against science that the sun doesn’t cause cancer; it’s the corn dogs.
Steve Gruber, host of the conservative network’s morning program Day Break, made the announcement Wednesday alongside his guest and wife, Ivey Ramos Gruber, who agreed sunglasses might also be unnecessary. The segment fits neatly into the MAHA movement’s growing anti-sunscreen wing — and straight into a public health nightmare.
Steve Gruber played a clip of Valerie Anne Smith, an Ohio-based social media influencer who bills herself as a medical and health authority on X, where she has more than 246,000 followers. Smith has no listed medical credentials.
“The sun that is giving life to all of us on this earth, this plane of existence, is not here to cause cancer,” Smith said in the clip. She blamed cancer on seed oils, alcohol, and — specifically — people who drink Coors Light while baking in the sun.
“Cancer is a metabolic disease,” she insisted.
Steve Gruber was sold. “There you have it,” he said. “I will not be wearing sunscreen, Ivey, not one drop.”
Reuters fact-checked nearly identical claims in 2022 and found them false. UV radiation from the sun directly damages DNA in skin cells, initiating cancer — a conclusion backed by decades of research. No foods have been shown to cause skin cancer.
The American Cancer Society is unambiguous: over 90% of all skin cancer is caused by UV radiation from the sun or indoor tanning devices. It recommends broad-spectrum SPF 30+ sunscreen as a core prevention tool. The FDA and the American Academy of Dermatology agree.
“Ultraviolet radiation is a known carcinogen,” Adam Friedman, a professor of dermatology, told KFF Health News last August, as the MAHA-fueled anti-sunscreen trend drew alarm from medical professionals.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the architect of MAHA, acknowledged in November that he personally uses tanning beds — devices the ACS explicitly warns against.
“I’m not telling people that they should do anything that I do,” Kennedy insisted at the time.
Ivey Ramos Gruber suggested coconut oil as a sunscreen substitute and mused that sunglasses might interfere with melatonin regulation — adding, “I’m not a doctor.”
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