If there was one single idea uniting the misnamed “Make America Healthy Again” movement, it’s that health is a matter of personal responsibility, and government is in the way. This is presumably why Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abandoned his family’s long allegiance to the Democratic Party to support a Republican for president, Donald Trump, and serve in his administration. He and his army of affluent, white female supporters — dubbed “MAHA moms” — pride themselves in rejecting the federal government’s reliance on medical and scientific expertise to set healthcare policy. They characterize these authorities as an oppressive force, denying individuals the freedom to make their own choices, however unscientific, about healthcare.
“I’m a freedom-of-choice person,” the secretary insisted to Fox News’ Sean Hannity in 2025. In Kennedy’s view, ordinary people, working on the advice of shady online influencers, are just as qualified as medical experts to understand the risks of refusing vaccines, rejecting contraception, drinking raw milk, consuming unregulated supplements or eating saturated fats.
