Bobby Kennedy’s MAHA Movement Explodes Into Civil War
Nicole Shanahan, the former VP running mate of RFK Jr., aggressively calls out Kennedy and others. It’s Team Food vs. Team Vax/Pandemic. Which side in this heated battle is correct? The answer is both
Now More Than 100 Days Into President Trump’s 2nd Term, it appears clear what the goalposts are for RFK Jr. and what the Make America Health Again (MAHA) movement can realistically accomplish under the umbrella of a Donald Trump Presidency.
Yes, Donald Trump was voted in with a sweeping mandate for significant reforms across the board, including our health care system and dishing out justice for the mistakes of the pandemic. Still, we didn’t elect a King, and those who were expecting to see rapid and aggressive changes on all manner of political hot button topics such as vaccines, war, and deep government and elite corruption are facing the harsh realities of the political system and where the country is at. The limits are very real.
The MAHA movement is a sprawling effort looking to tackle many significant issues across a variety of areas such as food quality; geoengineering; farming practices and soil health; radiation exposure from sources such as cell towers; vaccines; etc. to name a few. Basically, running the gamut on all potential issues impacting our health, plus other major areas that RFK Jr. aggressively discussed during his Presidential campaign, namely free speech and scaling back global conflict and the military industrial complex. Still, two general areas have risen to the top in prominence in the MAHA movement: the quality of food and vaccines/vaccine development. It is important to stress that the vaccine side includes addressing the appalling mistakes (or plan depending on how you look at it) of the lockdowns and bringing justice to people like Anthony Fauci. Given that it is now clear the development of the COVID vaccine and the promotion of the lockdowns involved many strains of our military and deep state, it has come to the point that it really is more appropriate to refer to our “health care system” as part of a broader and more powerful medical (pharmaceutical) -military industrial complex.
I believe that if RFK Jr. had been successfully elected as President via his historic independent run, we would be much further along the road at this point in making the reforms necessary to fully expose and shatter our medical-military industrial complex. This, of course, did not happen. Bobby Kennedy bowed out and fully endorsed Donald Trump.
the debate of whether it would have been better in the long run for the health freedom movement and all related issues if Bobby would have remained in the race as an independent and dedicated much of his time post-election to building up a viable third party to address our critical challenges as opposed to aligning under the Republican Party is a fascinating one. My feeling right now is that RFK Jr. made the right choice that increased the chances of making real long-term reforms to our system and health given the realities of our firmly entrenched two-party system despite the fact the majority of voters identify as independent and despise both major parties, but no doubt this decision will be debated especially in independent circles for a long time. While Kennedy has significant power and sway as the head of HHS, at the end of the day, his boss is Donald Trump. While the Trump Administration has made many exciting and overdue announcements in a variety of areas, it should not be overly surprising that real and immediate changes to issues such as the childhood vaccine schedule are being slow-footed.
It's hard to imagine President Trump ever expressing regret over his Operation War Speed program that developed the COVID vaccine, despite the feelings of not only the MAHA base but the MAGA base as well. By all indications, President Trump is still fully on board with not only the COVID “vaccine,” but the broader concept of the genetic mRNA technology behind it. Still, those hoping for significant changes to our pharmaceutical industry and vaccines in particular not only have to face the reality of the President’s position on the subject, but also the inconvenient issue that the overwhelming majority of the members of Congress are in the pocket of the medical industry, which has formed deep connections with our even more powerful military apparatus. In addition, unfortunately, a significant percentage of the general population is still under the spell of the media propaganda machine that has elevated vaccines as one of the untouchable topics to even debate, let alone reform. Yes, Bobby Kennedy could come out more aggressively in his official capacity as HHS Secretary stating his full beliefs on the subject and indicating that as HHS Secretary, he will do everything in his power to completely overhaul the vaccine schedule and state unequivocally that policy efforts under the first Trump term such as Operation Warp Speed were a major mistake, but that would of course seriously jeopardize Kennedy’s standing with Trump and could fracture their relationship. RFK Jr. needs to walk a tight rope given his current position in the government and the stark political realities of the subject.
Will Donald Trump and significant figures close to him hang on to the narrative that Operation Warp Speed was a major accomplishment, or does his Administration admit mistake and allow for a more aggressive attack on vaccines and our health care industry? Time will tell. Perhaps the results of Kennedy’s autism study that comes out in a few short months will provide the additional data and evidence needed to pierce through; still, my guess is that by September when the results are supposed to come out, Trump and the Republican party will already be primarily focused on the 2026 midterm election (it appears they may already be there given Trump’s surprisingly swift backtrack on Chinese tariffs this week, indicating they are feeling the heat on the economy and, thus, are backing off on seeing through politically difficult needed reforms to our economic system)
Trump and the Republicans may float concepts like finding ways to arrest the likes of Anthony Fauci to appeal to the base and attract votes, but I wouldn’t hold my breath that real justice for the mistakes and corruption of the pandemic era and leading up to it will ever take place. Fauci and his ilk are part of too large of a net that implicate too many powerful people, similar to how we are not likely to see the full Epstein client list and see real justice there or see an actual scaling back of our global military machine that brings a swift end and lasting peace not only to the extended conflicts in Isreal and Ukraine, but other parts of the world as well.
In this five-minute video clip, Bret Weinstein helps make clear the realities of the issue of vaccines, and in particular, the COVID/mRNA vaccine under President Trump and the President’s belief in them.
While the food, farming, and chemical lobbies are certainly powerful as well, they are not at the level of the medical-military industrial complex. Still, even here, there are significant limits to how much actual reform can be made at this time to our country’s dominate industrial factory-farming system. In addition, the widespread banning at a national level of major chemicals such as glyphosates does not seem to be in the cards. This leaves relatively low-hanging fruit reforms with our food and banning certain ingredients such as dyes or changing baby food formulas. These reforms are simply much easier lifts and are reforms that can be done not only practically but politically speaking as well. Thus, importantly and circling this article back to the top and surface layer, leadership and the movement are sort of naturally gravitating toward what can more easily be accomplished in the near-term, which is food ingredients and some related, let’s call it “soft” lifestyle issues such as promoting exercise and holistic stress management.
This is why it is not surprising and it makes sense on many levels that someone like Casey Means came seemingly out of nowhere to be considered for Surgeon General. She is a great speaker with an attractive story and background who did really well for herself raising her profile on places such as Tucker Carslon’s popular and influential Podcast. And while she has spoken out on many issues the MAHA base is passionate about, her and her brother Calley (who both deserve immense credit for taking stands against industry orthodoxies they have been a part of and taking immense risks) have largely steered clear of getting deep into the specifics of the vaccine debate that is so central to so many in the MAHA base. Casey seems like a safe enough pick for the establishment to tolerate at this time. She very passionately and eloquently speaks out against how doctors are educated and trained and that surely rattles insiders to some degree, but she has tightly focused her attacks and reform ideas around food, as opposed to vaccines. Thus, she is kind of the perfect fit for where the political realities of everything are at the moment.
Still, I imagine that many, including Bobby Kennedy himself, are surprised that despite all the good that has been done so far (and there have been many truly groundbreaking developments and announcements related to MAHA under President Trump so far) that this revolt blew up so aggressively and included such prominent members of the MAHA movement, including his own Vice President running mate, Nicole Shanahan.
While this has caused a messy situation, to me, it is a good thing. Tensions and pressure need to be aired out in the open to indicate to everyone how important all these issues are to the voting base. In fact, the only thing that creates actual reform in politics is relentless and ongoing pressure from the grassroots. I trust and believe in both sides. I understand and have sympathy for the food reform side of the civil war, which is generally going to stress the political realities of the situation and celebrate the important victories that have already been achieved and additional victories that can still come, but I also have great sympathy for the more hard-core side of MAHA that wants to directly attack the entire medical-military industrial complex by aggressively addressing issues such as vaccines on all fronts.
Remember, Nicole Shanahan has an autistic daughter. Many parents in this situation within the MAHA movement are convinced that vaccines were either the principal cause or at least played a role:
Watch Nicole Shanahan explain her thoughts on the link between vaccines and autism with her child in this powerful two-minute clip: https://x.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1836864193292603471?lang=en
Then you’ve got the major related issue of censorship and the destruction of good people’s lives by the medical industry/establishment who dared speak out against vaccines and the broader COVID lockdown policies. These people have been proven right on issue after issue and yet to this day, not only have they not received the credit they deserve but many are still being viciously attacked on both a personal and professional level. This is especially true for individuals within the medical establishment who dared question procedures. A common theme is demanding justice not just for themselves but society at large as well. One of the most prominent voices in this area and someone Nicole Shanahan appears to be aligning with in this explosive MAHA moment is Dr. Mary Talley Bowden.
People like Dr. Bowden spoke out and rebelled bravely from the beginning regarding the mandates and vaccines. They have been in the trenches for a long time and have paid a very heavy price personally for the sacrifices they have made and continue to make. This is the energy source of the war that is going on right now, as this faction MAHA feels increasingly slighted and believe “safer” people like Casey and Calley Means have been elevated to the top of the movement, while the deeper heart and soul members are being overlooked, forgotten, and disrespected. This more hardened faction of the MAHA movement continue to be attacked to this day for standing up for what has proven to be right: the lockdowns and everything associated with the lockdowns were wrong; our medical system from top to bottom was acting unethically; and the rushed mRNA vaccine was and is causing all sorts of adverse reactions. They were right and you cannot blame them for feeling burned at this point given the fact that, for example, the COVID shot is still officially being recommended by our government to six-month olds. Eliminating the recommendation to give COVID shots to six-month olds should be an easy choice and considered low hanging fruit. It should have already been addressed and the fact that it hasn’t yet and we are now past 100 days in the Trump Presidency and everyone at a gut level can kind of sense what I have laid out with this article in that we are not likely to see the reforms we were expecting when it comes to the issue of vaccines during this Presidential term. Frustration has understandably boiled over given that Bobby Kennedy’s preferred pick for Surgeon General was allegedly past over at the very last minute and replaced with Casey Means. This appears to have been the match that lit the flame and now many are questioning how much power RFK Jr. actually has.
Nicole Shanahan’s recent X post that ignited the seemingly inevitable firestorm, which was actually a response post. Here is the original post from Dr. Suzanne Humphries, another major influencer in the health freedom movement with her response to the Surgeon General announcement:
Dr. Suzanne Humphries wrote on May 7 on X: “Dr. Jack Kruse tried to tell us. Mary Talley Bowden was on the podcast too. She knows the deal with Means. Let’s see how this all pans out… I can’t help but think this is a very carefully groomed and selected person. Just about no clinical experience. Talks a great game about everything but vaccines. Feels all wrong. Why? There were so many better choices.”
Nicole Shanahan responded: “Yes, it’s very strange. Doesn’t make any sense. I was promised that if I supported RFK Jr. in his Senate confirmation, neither of these siblings would be working under HHS or in an appointment (and that people much more qualified would be). I don’t know if RFK very clearly lied to me, or what is going on. It has been clear in recent conversations that he is reporting to someone regularly who is controlling his decisions (and it isn’t President Trump). With regard to the siblings, there is something very artificial and aggressive about them—almost like they were bred and raised Manchurian assets.”
My quick take: the surprising hesitation Shanahan publicly reveals here about her support for RFK Jr.’s confirmation probably has to do with her sense that Bobby would end up having to compromise too much in the position, which she is now indicating is indeed happening. Regarding going so far as labeling the Means as “Manchurian,” perhaps this was a heat of the moment thing. I don’t think this is the case at all, but crazier things have proven to be true in modern times.
Nicole Shanahan/Glenn Beck: Nicole explaining the reasoning behind her posts that made clear there are significant issues and a lack of trust right now amongst key leaders of the MAHA family.
Where do believers go from here and what should be done? Despite the drama, there is lots to look forward to and there is still hope for much needed deeper systematic reforms to eventually push through. There is still much groundwork needed, though, for the more challenging reforms that will bleed into future Presidential terms (will be interesting to hear more of the thoughts of people like JD Vance regarding vaccines over the next couple of years). Much of the work required comes in the form of activism and changes at the state level. Some of the most exciting announcements have come from certain states regarding issues such as health rights, fluoride, etc. Of course, we need blue states to get on board more, which will be a challenge to say the least. But it is a fight worth fighting and needed.
Perhaps the results of Bobby Kennedy’s autism research study will provide the off-ramp needed for President Trump to go after the medical industry more aggressively, especially with regard to vaccines. If there is anyone who can find a way politically to get deeper industry and systematic reforms done with regard to everything related to our health under seemingly impossible conditions it is RFK Jr. He is our best hope. Still, it is not a bad thing that he is feeling the heat so publicly from such prominent allies like Nicole Shanahan.
Of course, there is only so much that great people like RFK Jr., Nicole Shanahan, Casey Means, Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, etc. can do. Much depends on the people. Citizens need to keep pushing not only officials at the federal level but the greatest hope is at the state level with state-level legislation and elections coming up. All the base can do is keep pushing, keep fighting, and keep the faith always. Yes, there is a civil war raging in MAHA, but that doesn’t mean the movement is over or that the alliance with MAGA/Trump is in danger of falling apart. Far from it. I believe the movement will come out of this heated debate even stronger. I still believe in all the key players on both Team Food and Team Vax and think both sides are right. This vigorous debate was inevitable. Kudos to both RFK Jr. and Nicole Shanahan. Nicole is making clear what her role is, which happens to be needed and she is making clear she fully has that independent spirit that made the RFK Jr. for President movement so powerful and groundbreaking, which is to not be afraid to fully speak your mind and confront issues and challenges head on. We will all be better for this robust battle that is occurring.