#1733 The Impossible Promise of Make American Healthy Again: MAHA vs MAGA
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.6 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 27 August 2025
⏱️ 197 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 8/27/2025
RFK Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again movement aren't completely wrong about everything, they often identify the larger structural problems with the US health industrial complex even if their proposed solutions are wildly off the mark. But the problem they failed to see coming when partnering with Trump and the Republicans is that they're only going to be allowed to misguidedly defund and dismantle parts of the government that support health which is in line with the broader burn-it-all-down vibes of the MAGA movement, but under no circumstances will they be allowed to implement new regulations that might actually do the public some good at the expense of corporate interests because that would go against the pro-corporate/deregulation obsession of the Republican Party. So, MAHA might be a mixed bag but what the country is getting is a lose/lose.
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: RFK Jr. Is Putting American Lives At Risk Part 1 - What A Day - Air Date 8-8-25
KP 2: What the Wellness Industry Doesn't Want You to Know Part 1 - More Perfect Union - Air Date 8-4-25
KP 5: The Nutrition Lies We All Fell For Part 1 - Rich Roll - Air Date 8-11-25
KP 6: Dr. Mikes Fight to Save Medicine From RFK Jr. Part 1 - Bulwark Takes - Air Date 8-4-24
(00:53:06) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On why regulations are written in blood
DEEPER DIVES
(01:01:33) SECTION A: MAHA AGENDA
A3: 270 Kennedy's Bloodbath Part 1 - Conspirituality - Air Date 8-14-25
A4: RFK Jr.'s New Vaccine Advisors Signal Big Changes to Come - Short Wave - Air Date 6-30-25
A5: RFK Jr. Is Putting American Lives At Risk Part 2 - What A Day - Air Date 8-8-25
A6: 270 Kennedy's Bloodbath Part 2 - Conspirituality - Air Date 8-14-25
(01:53:49) SECTION B: THE GRIFTERS
B1: What the Wellness Industry Doesn't Want You to Know Part 2 - More Perfect Union - Air Date 8-4-25
B2: Make America Healthy Again Part 1 - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - Air Date 8-18-25
B3: The Nutrition Lies We All Fell For Part 2 - Rich Roll - Air Date 8-11-25
B4: Dr. Mikes Fight to Save Medicine From RFK Jr. Part 2 - Bulwark Takes - Air Date 8-4-24
B5: Make America Healthy Again Part 2 - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - Air Date 8-18-25
(02:36:28) SECTION C: CON-TRADICTORY POLICIES
C1: The Nutrition Lies We All Fell For Part 3 - Rich Roll - Air Date 8-11-25
C2: 4 Ways SNAP Benefits Will Change After Trump's Big Policy Act - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 8-9-25
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: Composite image showing a circular screen grab showing from HHS Secretary RFK Jr. wearing the MAHA hat and pulling down the brim to show the “Make America Healthy Again” text, on a green background.
Credit: Composite design by A. Hoffman. Image Source: HHS “Netzpolitik Demonstration for press freedom in Berlin” by Sebaso, Wikimedia Commons | License: CC BY-SA 4.0 | Changes: Cropped
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of the Left podcast. RFK Jr. and the Make |
| 0:08.2 | America Healthy Again movement aren't completely wrong about everything. They often identify the larger |
| 0:14.6 | structural problems in the U.S. health industrial complex, even if their proposed solutions |
| 0:20.7 | are wildly off the mark. |
| 0:22.8 | But the problem they apparently failed to see coming when partnering with Trump and the |
| 0:26.3 | Republicans is that they're only going to be allowed to misguidedly defund and dismantle parts |
| 0:32.1 | of the government that support health, which is in line with the broader burn it all down |
| 0:36.4 | vibes of the MAGA movement, |
| 0:38.0 | but under no circumstances will they be allowed to implement new regulations |
| 0:42.1 | that might actually do the public some good at the expense of corporate interests, |
| 0:46.7 | because that would go against the pro-corporate deregulation obsession of the Republican Party. |
| 0:52.8 | So Maha might be a bit of a mixed bag, but what the country is getting is a dangerous |
| 0:57.8 | lose-lose. |
| 0:59.4 | For those looking for a quick overview, the sources providing our top takes in about |
| 1:02.9 | 50 minutes today includes What a Day, More Perfect Union, the Bradcast, the briefing, rich |
| 1:09.4 | roll, bulwark takes, and this is hell. Then, in the additional deeper dives half of the show, there will be more in three sections. Section A, the Maha Agenda, followed by Section B, the Grifters, and Section C, contradictory policies. But first, a reminder to check out our new show Solved on the Best of the Left YouTube channel. |
| 1:27.9 | We're really proud of the show. |
| 1:29.3 | We definitely think you'll get real value out of it. |
| 1:31.6 | And you checking it out actually helps us find new viewers on the YouTube platform. |
| 1:35.7 | So thanks in advance for all of your views, like, subscribes, and comments. |
| 1:39.1 | That's all on the Best of Left YouTube channel linked in the show notes. |
| 1:42.9 | And now, on to the show. |
... |
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