S6 Ep16: MAGA's 'Crunchy' Surprise (with Jonathan Cohn)

The Focus Group Podcast

The Bulwark

Politics, News, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 20 December 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' movement and its adherents have done some of the most harm of anyone in Donald Trump's second term. The voters who are motivated by 'MAHA' are also some of the most interesting. The Bulwark's resident healthcare expert, Jonathan Cohn joins the show to break down the policy consequences of RFK's healthcare regime, and what motivates the everyday 'MAHA' voter.

By Jonathan Cohn:
This Is What It Looks Like When RFK Jr. Wins

Transcript

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0:36.0	Hello everyone and welcome to the Focus Group podcast. I'm Sarah Longwell, publisher of the
0:41.6	bulwark. And this week for our last full show of 2025, we're covering one of the under-discussed
0:48.6	but important subcategories in American politics, the maha voter, or make America healthy again, because our lives are
0:59.2	ruled by variations of this acronym.
1:02.3	So one of the worst parts of the first year of the Trump presidency has been the ravaging
1:07.6	of the public health apparatus while measles cases have exploded.
1:12.2	This has all been driven by a political faction that's getting more and more important
1:15.7	within the Republican Party, and we're going to hear from some of them today about why they
1:20.2	got so maha-pilled. My guest today is Jonathan Cohn, author of the Bullwork Newsletter, The
1:25.7	Breakdown, which is excellent. And he has been
1:28.9	all over health care policy this year. Jonathan, thanks for joining us from Japan.
1:35.0	Thank you for having me. Yes, from across the world where they don't seem to be having the same
1:41.0	issues with public health that we are in the United States. No, vaccines are still cool there? They appear to be having the same issues with public health that we are in the United States.
	...

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