Has RFK Delivered On MAHA Promises?
1A
NPR
4.3 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 29 April 2026
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Among his most fervent supporters: vaccine skeptics and cynics, nutrition-focused parents and anti-pesticide activists.
After dropping out of the presidential contest and endorsing Donald Trump, Kennedy emerged as the president’s foremost pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Now, many in the so-called “MAHA coalition” are disappointed with Secretary Kennedy for what they describe as a failure to deliver key reforms to the nation’s health and food systems.
And, we discuss what the rise in measles and other infectious diseases means about the state of our public health. Secretary Kennedy has repeatedly downplayed recent measles outbreaks and given deeply mixed messages on vaccination.
Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | In 2024, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was a presidential hopeful running under the banner of Make America Healthy again. |
| 0:16.8 | His most fervent supporters, among them, vaccine skeptics and cynics, nutrition-focused parents, and anti-pesticide activists. |
| 0:26.2 | After dropping out of the presidential contest and endorsing President Trump, Kennedy emerged as the president's foremost pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. |
| 0:35.6 | Now, many of the so-called Maha coalition are disappointed with Secretary Kennedy for what |
| 0:41.8 | they describe as a failure to deliver key reforms to the nation's health and food systems. |
| 0:47.6 | What I was seeing in the chat groups was, I guess I'm a Democrat now, right? |
| 0:51.1 | So there are a lot of people who are very upset about what the Republicans |
| 0:56.6 | are doing. That's Zen Honeycutt, prominent Maha influencer and founder and director of moms across |
| 1:03.0 | America. They're a grassroots organization that advocates for clean food. We should note that we did |
| 1:08.8 | reach out to Zen Honeycutt to invite her on the program, |
| 1:12.7 | but we didn't hear back. The invitation, of course, stands. And later, we'll talk about what |
| 1:18.2 | the rise in measles and other infectious diseases means for the state of our public health. |
| 1:24.2 | Secretary Kennedy has repeatedly downplayed recent measles outbreaks and given deeply |
| 1:29.2 | mixed messages on vaccination, along with his disinformation. I'm Todd's Willick, |
| 1:34.4 | in for Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast. We'll be back with more after this short |
| 1:39.4 | break. Stay with us. |
| 1:47.9 | Welcome back to the 1A podcast. |
| 1:50.9 | We're talking about the fracturing Maha movement. |
| 1:58.5 | Joining us in the studio in Washington, D.C. is Amanda Sites, Washington Health Policy Reporter at KFF Health News. |
| 1:59.6 | Amanda, thanks for being here. |
| 2:05.5 | Thank you so much for having me. Amanda, the Maha Coalition. It's kind of a political buzzword right now. To me, it sounds like soccer moms or NASCAR dads used to sound. Political reporters are |
| 2:11.3 | very fond of these labels. What is it exactly? What are the key priorities? Well, that's a great question. And I've even |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.