Calley Means, a former senior adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., wildly suggested Monday that Susie Wiles might “inflict physical harm” on him after he accused the former White House chief of staff of undercutting President Trump’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.
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America → suggest → agenda
Means, who resigned his post last month, has since accused Wiles and lobbying firm Ballard Partners of successfully pushing back against several MAHA policy goals, including by allegedly promoting an executive order declaring glyphosate-based herbicides – which Means believes may cause cancer – critical to national security.
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Means → resign → security
“People who know Susie well have warned me that she has the capacity to inflict physical harm,” Means wrote on X.
asserted
Means → know → X.
In a separate post, Means described Wiles as “ruthless.”
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Means → describe → Wiles
“Anyone who went around her, she sought to destroy,” he claimed.
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he → go → her
It’s unclear what sort of “physical harm” Means believes the 69-year-old grandmother may be capable of.
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grandmother → ’ → harm
In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Means further alleged that Wiles promoted a “demonic” culture inside the White House, including by purportedly blocking an investigation into the amount of sugar in children’s diets because she needed “money from the sugar people to win the midterms.”
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she → allege → midterms
“Calley Means’ accusations are outrageous, defamatory, and provably false,” a spokesperson for Wiles told Axios.
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spokesperson → tell → Axios
“Susie has dedicated her career to fighting for President Trump and the American people, and will not allow these lies to go unanswered.”
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lies → dedicate → Trump
Means also claimed he’s received “unhinged threats” from former White House official James Blair, who he’s accused of pushing against MAHA efforts to ban fruit-flavored vapes, including by allegedly arguing pro-vaping policies were “a core midterm issue” for Republicans.
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policies → claim → Republicans
“[Y]ou can’t find a single candidate I have ever told to talk about vape policy, because the idea I argued for it as a core midterm issue is a complete and total lie,” Blair responded on X.
Meanwhile, the founder of Ballard Partners issued a statement denying that the firm lobbied the White House on fruit-flavored vapes or glyphosate.
“I do not ordinarily respond to commentary about our firm.
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I → find → firm
I am making an exception today because Calley Means has made specific claims about Ballard Partners that are false, and the record should be corrected,” Brian Ballard said in a statement.
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Ballard → make → statement
“On flavored vapes: No one at Ballard Partners advocated to Susie Wiles or anyone on the White House staff for the authorization of fruit-flavored vapes,” he said.
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he → flavor → vapes
“Our work with White House staff on this issue has been against illegal, unregulated vapes from China, some of which have been found laced with fentanyl, that are reaching American communities and American children.”
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that → find → communities
“On glyphosate: No one at Ballard Partners lobbied or communicated with Susie Wiles or anyone in the West Wing, including her Deputy Chiefs of Staff, regarding the Administration’s executive order on glyphosate,” Ballard said.
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Ballard → lobby → glyphosate
The lobbyist added that his firm’s “interactions with Susie Wiles as Chief of Staff have been limited and have been the exception, not the rule.”
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interactions → add → Staff
Wiles used to work at Ballard Partners.
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Wiles → use → Partners
The lobbying firm also tweeted out an interview that Means did on a Ballard Partners podcast in May, months after Trump signed the glyphosate executive order.
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Trump → tweet → order
Robert Malone, a former member of Kennedy’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory panel, noted that a “rather significant omission” from Means’ scorched-earth criticism is the fact that RFK Jr.’s own daughter-in-law, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, is a lobbyist at Ballard Partners.
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daughter → note → Partners
“Yes, the SAME Ballard Partners that Means criticizes for its political influence,” Malone wrote on X. “The same firm where Susie Wiles previously worked.”
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Wiles → criticize → X.
“Means wants Americans to scrutinize the family connections of powerful government officials.
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Americans → want → officials
Fair enough,” he continued.
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he → continue → ?
“But why does that scrutiny apparently stop at Kennedy’s own family?”
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scrutiny → stop → family
The Aporia
