A big rift is brewing in the Trump administration, as allies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — the mastermind of the so-called “Make America Healthy Again” movement — lobby President Donald Trump to fire Lee Zeldin, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Kennedy and his supporters are notorious anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists who reject much of modern medicine — but according to The New York Times, many are also genuine supporters of protecting the environment, and see Zeldin’s hands-off, polluter-friendly approach as contrary to their values.
“In a petition circulated on social media, the activists wrote that Mr. Zeldin ‘has prioritized the interests of chemical corporations over the well-being of American families and children,’” reported Maxine Joselow, who added it reflects “growing tensions within Mr. Trump’s political base” over how to protect the environment. “As of early Friday afternoon, more than 2,800 people had signed the petition. The organizers included Vani Hari, a MAHA influencer who is known as the Food Babe to her 2.3 million Instagram followers, and Alex Clark, the host of a health and wellness podcast popular among conservatives.”
This comes after the EPA made a number of decisions rolling back efforts to clean up the environment.
“Last month, the E.P.A. approved the use of two pesticides that meet the internationally recognized definition for ‘forever chemicals,’ which are also known as PFAS and are linked to serious health risks. Mr. Zeldin has disputed the idea that the pesticides contained PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances,” said the report. “In July, the E.P.A. proposed allowing the use of the contentious herbicide dicamba on some cotton and soybean crops. And in May, the agency said it would delay deadlines for water utilities to limit two types of PFAS present in the tap water of millions of Americans.”
Zen Honeycutt, who founded the MAHA-aligned group Moms Across America, said of these decisions, “If our enemies were to write a plan on how to poison Americans and prevent us from growing our own food, this would be it.”
It’s a rare instance in which the MAHA movement, which has a reputation for pushing junk science, appears to be on the side of experts. Scientists have also sounded the alarm about the Trump administration’s move to stop more careful regulation of PFAS in food and water, warning some of these substances can cause low birth weights in mothers exposed during pregnancy.
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