The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) coalition helped President Donald Trump get re-elected in 2024.
asserted
coalition → make → 2024
Two years later, MAHA supporters say their frustration at what they call Trump’s broken promises helped the Democrats triumph in the midterms.
asserted
Democrats → say → midterms
Disappointment over issues including pesticides and vaccines led some MAHA voters to support Democrats or sit out the midterms, activists involved in the movement say.
asserted
activists → include → movement
How widespread those choices were—and whether they meaningfully affected certain races—remains unclear.
uncertain
they → affect → races
The Democrats on Tuesday decisively took control of the House and Senate, winning seats in states long considered Republican strongholds including Texas, Kansas, and South Carolina.
asserted
Democrats → take → Texas
“A lot of people had said they weren’t going to vote, and by not voting, they handed the win to the Democrats,” says Zen Honeycutt, the founder and executive director of Moms Across America, a group closely linked to the MAHA movement.
asserted
Honeycutt → say → movement
“That’s what happens when you don’t fulfill your promises to the American people.
asserted
you → ’ → people
They won’t show up for you.”
asserted
They → show → you
Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit health-advocacy group, says it is hard to know without more specific voting data just how much of an actual impact MAHA had on the midterm results.
asserted
MAHA → say → results
But he says the movement is large enough that the votes of even a fraction of MAHA supporters would have been sufficient to “have made a decisive difference.”
asserted
votes → say → difference
The MAHA movement gained national traction during the 2024 presidential campaign when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed Trump and brought his health-focused coalition into the Make America Great Again (MAGA) orbit.
asserted
Jr. → gain → orbit
Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer and longtime vaccine skeptic, was tapped by Trump to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
asserted
Kennedy → tap → Health
Kennedy has since faced widespread criticism from doctors and scientists for his efforts to slash U.S. vaccine recommendations and research funding for vaccines.
asserted
Kennedy → face → vaccines
Still, Kennedy and MAHA retain national influence.
asserted
Kennedy → retain → influence
An October survey found that American voters viewed Kennedy more favorably than many leading political figures including Trump, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
asserted
voters → find → State
A KFF poll in May found that 41% of U.S. adults support the MAHA movement.
uncertain
% → find → movement
However, most U.S. adults surveyed said they didn’t agree with the Trump Administration's handling of vaccines.
asserted
they → survey → vaccines
Despite Kennedy’s attacks on the childhood immunization schedule, Americans across party lines have expressed overwhelming support for childhood vaccines.
asserted
Americans → express → vaccines
Honeycutt, a close ally of Kennedy, had previously threatened to back some Democratic candidates in the midterm elections if Republicans failed to act on MAHA priorities, including tightening pesticide regulations and nutrition reform.
asserted
Republicans → threaten → regulations
Moms Across America Movement, the political advocacy organization she leads, endorsed 10 Democrats including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Rep. Chris Pappas, who won a highly contested bid for Senate in New Hampshire.
asserted
who → lead → Hampshire
Nine of the 10 Democrats endorsed by Honeycutt’s group won their races.
asserted
Democrats → endorse → races
(The group also endorsed dozens of Republican and independent candidates.)
asserted
group → endorse → candidates
“Trump promised [on the campaign trail] to go after pesticides, autism, childhood chronic illness.
asserted
Trump → promise → pesticides
He shook Bobby Kennedy’s hand and promised to let him go wild.
asserted
him → shake → hand
He did not fulfill that promise,” Honeycutt says.
asserted
Honeycutt → fulfill → promise
“He did not do anything substantial about pesticides.
asserted
He → do → pesticides
In fact, he made it worse.”
asserted
it → make → fact
She points to an executive order signed by Trump in February that prioritizes U.S. production of glyphosate, a weedkiller that some research has linked to cancer.
asserted
research → point → cancer
Many MAHA supporters want to limit glyphosate’s use.
asserted
supporters → want → use
“I was disgusted” with the executive order, Honeycutt says.
asserted
Honeycutt → disgust → order
“It was a clear example of how this Administration is heavily influenced by Big Ag and chemical corporations.”
asserted
Administration → influence → Ag
Since Trump took office, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved five pesticide ingredients that environmental groups say are PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances—“forever chemicals” that could threaten people’s health.
uncertain
that → take → health
In April, only a minority of Republican House members voted to remove language from the Farm Bill that would have protected pesticide manufacturers from health-related lawsuits—more proof, Honeycutt says, that Republicans are “beholden to chemical companies.”
asserted
Republicans → vote → companies
(In the end, the pesticide liability protections were stripped from the bill, following support from a coalition of Democrats and MAHA supporters.)
asserted
protections → strip → Democrats
“I think Republicans lost because they listened to the lobbying wing of their party instead of their base,” many of whom care about issues like pesticides, says David Murphy, a former fundraiser for Kennedy's presidential campaign and founder of the food-system reform organization United We Eat.
asserted
We → think → organization
Murphy was among a group of MAHA activists who recently published a MAHA scorecard that listed 42 promises that the Trump Administration had made to “make America healthy again.”
asserted
America → publish → that
According to the scorecard, Trump has kept zero promises, partially fulfilled 5 (including actions related to food dyes), and broken 37 of them.
uncertain
Trump → accord → them
“The MAHA coalition was instrumental in helping Trump win based on very specific promises he made to Kennedy…but he has failed to follow through,” Murphy says.
asserted
Murphy → help → Kennedy
The alliance between the MAHA coalition and Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement has been a tenuous one from the start, strained in part by the close ties that Trump and his allies have to food and chemical industries.
asserted
Trump → make → industries
Even before the midterms, signs had been mounting of the alliance splintering.
asserted
alliance → mount → midterms
…and 32 more, not listed.
The Aporia
