{"id":596657,"date":"2026-05-05T17:13:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T17:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=596657"},"modified":"2026-05-05T17:13:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T17:13:15","slug":"does-trumps-new-pick-for-surgeon-general-get-an-f-when-it-comes-to-all-things-maha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=596657","title":{"rendered":"Does Trump\u2019s new pick for surgeon general get an F when it comes to all things MAHA?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Donald Trump has once again run afoul of his MAHA coalition after congressional stonewalling forced a third nomination for surgeon general.<\/p>\n

Late last week, the chief executive and his Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slammed Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy (R), faulting him for \u201csabotaging\u201d the appointment of Dr. Casey Means.<\/p>\n

As upset as Make America Healthy Again proponents were for losing that fight, many expressed feelings of betrayal as Trump tapped radiologist, Fox News contributor and known vaccine proponent Dr. Nicole Saphier as his latest pick for the role.<\/p>\n

Following the president\u2019s announcement, Kennedy issued a statement with his own support for the \u201clong-time warrior for the MAHA movement,\u201d touting her experience with early detection and disease prevention as a means to tackle the \u201cchronic disease epidemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dr. Nicole Saphier is a long-time warrior for the MAHA movement. She has worked closely with patients facing breast cancer and understands the importance of early detection and prevention. That experience is essential as we take on the chronic disease epidemic and put prevention\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/B33u6w5S1j<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) April 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While MAHA stalwarts recognized the positives of Saphier, many could not look past the glaring negatives, including Turning Point USA\u2019s Alex Clark, who posted to X, \u201cThe new surgeon general nominee \u2026 may have a great pro-life testimony, but she gets an F when it comes to all things MAHA.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes the president realize that she completely trashed him and @SecKennedy on everything they\u2019ve been doing concerning autism? She wrote an entire op-ed for @WSJ a few WEEKS ago called \u2018The Madness in RFK Jr.\u2019s Autism Method\u2019. She is one of the most pro-vaccine advocates in medicine, even defending Hep B on the first day of life,\u201d continued Clark. \u201cDr. Saphier would be a catastrophic mistake on messaging and communicating with MAHA at a time where the coalition is very fragile. It will be perceived as the admin breaking another promise to them and embracing the status quo in health care that ended us smack dab in the middle of the chronic disease epidemic we now find ourselves in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The new surgeon general nominee, @NBSaphierMD<\/a>, may have a great pro-life testimony, but she gets an F when it comes to all things MAHA.<\/p>\n

Does the president realize that she completely trashed him and @SecKennedy<\/a> on everything they\u2019ve been doing concerning autism? She wrote an\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Alex Clark (@yoalexrapz) May 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cMy position isn\u2019t to replace Dr. Saphier. It\u2019s to completely DOGE the Surgeon General role. If we don\u2019t, we risk accelerating the loss of one of the most activated voting blocs the GOP is already watching slip away,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

That position was echoed by fellow MAHA advocate Vani Hari, who reacted to a past post from Saphier highlighted by attorney Tom Renz.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan anyone explain how this clown is being nominated for Surgeon General? This statement should disqualify her from practicing medicine, yet Trump nominates her for SG? This is literally insane and absolutely NOT MAHA,\u201d said the lawyer who defended against COVID tyranny to Saphier, posting about a \u201cCovid breakthrough\u201d despite being \u201cfully vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hari wrote over both, \u201cDoge the SG!!!!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Doge the SG!!!! https:\/\/t.co\/O6p4IpIskf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Vani Hari (@thefoodbabe) May 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Prior to the withdrawal of Means nomination, Trump had initially picked<\/a> Dr. Janette Nesheiwat for the role. Both his and Kennedy\u2019s dissatisfaction with having to change plans was stated publicly, with the president lashing out at Cassidy\u2019s \u201cintransigence and political games.\u201d<\/p>\n

The secretary added, \u201cBy sabotaging this appointment, Bill Cassidy once again did the dirty work for entrenched interests seeking to stall the MAHA movement and protect the very status quo that has made America the sickest nation on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

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President Trump\u2019s Surgeon General nominee, Casey Means, stands as one of the MAHA movement\u2019s most powerful evangelists. Her book Good Energy, which exposed the nation\u2019s catastrophic decline in metabolic health, has become a bible for the MAHA movement.<\/p>\n

After graduating first in\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/5drWu0DW8c<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) April 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Saphier\u2019s nomination followed the equally contentious nomination<\/a> of Dr. Erica Schwartz to serve as U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, likewise the third pick for the role during Trump\u2019s second administration. Schwartz played a key role in the first administration during the COVID response in large-scale ordering of tests.<\/p>\n

Noting that vaccine freedom is a preeminent concern for MAHA, Dr. Robert Malone\u2019s early assessment of Saphier described her record as \u201cgenuinely mixed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Juxtaposing her position that COVID boosters for young children was a \u201cpolitical stunt\u201d with her more recent promotion of the MMR vaccine as \u201cimportant and lifesaving,\u201d Malone wrote<\/a>, \u201cRead as a totality, the position is what I would call moderate-MAHA. She is pro-individual-vaccine on the merits. She is supportive of parental autonomy on schedule. She is critical of universal pediatric mandates absent benefit data. She is explicitly sympathetic to MAHA\u2019s vaccine-safety-surveillance reform agenda. She is not, in any reading I can construct from the documentary record, an anti-vaccine voice in the medical-freedom register that, say, Children\u2019s Health Defense operates in. She is also not, in any reading I can construct, a CDC-establishment-defending voice of the kind Cassidy is looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ongoing reactions on social media were likewise mixed.<\/p>\n

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She\u2019s a terrible choice, and it\u2019s very disappointing to hear you are in favor of her.<\/p>\n

\u2014 DB (@DLB0804) May 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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I\u2019m actually ok with her nomination, if we want Trump\u2019s nominees to get approved in a timely manner, it\u2019s got to be someone that is middle of the road. I trust Secretary Kennedy enough to make sure that she supports his initiatives!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Based N The SIP (@basednthesip) May 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Not happy with this pick. Over the past few years her comments on COVID \/ vaccines concern me.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Nancy (@NLowe2026) May 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The broad MAHA community did not get behind Dr. Means. They did not make the calls. They did not push Cassidy. Did we really think Trump\u2019s next nominee would be more MAHA friendly? MAHA better wake up!! Divided we fall.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Elyse Young (@elyseyoung23) May 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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No. No. No to Saphier. Joseph Ladapo is the real deal. Nothing to hide. Can\u2019t understand how his qualifications and track record do not get him considered. pic.twitter.com\/acrKg9hEks<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Lolo (@Lolo5lolo6) April 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump has once again run afoul of his MAHA coalition after congressional stonewalling forced a third nomination for surgeon general. Late last week, the chief executive and his Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slammed Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy (R), faulting him for \u201csabotaging\u201d the appointment of Dr. Casey Means.… Continue reading Does Trump\u2019s new pick for surgeon general get an F when it comes to all things MAHA?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":596658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-596657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-border-security","category-immigration","category-immigration-reform","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=596657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/596658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=596657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=596657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=596657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}