Many Americans have a soft spot for the Make America Healthy Again movement—even if they can’t name many of its leading figures.
The public health establishment was shocked when President Donald Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the government’s health department and Mehmet Oz, Jay Bhattacharya and Marty Macri to lead its most critical agencies. The figures had a controversial history that included raising questions about vaccine safety, pushing unproven medical treatments and opposing pandemic-era lockdowns and school closures.
New results from a Politico poll show that despite the controversies that plague Kennedy and his acolytes, the public is not that worried. While Kennedy’s own approval ratings are low – 39 percent view him positively, while 33 percent have a negative view – respondents were more likely to approve of Kennedy and his representatives than to disapprove of him.
Of course, Kennedy’s agency heads are not as famous as she is, other than the wellness gurus and crunchy mom-fluencers who are involved in her Make America Healthy Again movement.
Know more about who is at the helm of MAHA:
Moving into the midterms, the Trump administration is trying to use the MAHA coalition, which White House aides believe helped Trump win the 2024 election.
But Kennedy is a polarizing figure. Before joining the administration, he spent years arguing—in defiance of the medical establishment—that many vaccines are unsafe, and that children should get fewer vaccines. Those views guided his moves as health secretary, including changes to the childhood vaccination program by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a decision that was later blocked by a federal judge.
The White House is now downplaying vaccine policy moves ahead of the midterms in favor of promoting nutrition, which is seen as more popular with voters.
Oz is considered one of the administration’s most effective communicators. he medicaidplayed an important role in selling cuts to","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/24/dr-oz-senate-medicaid-cuts-00421423","_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720000","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720001","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Played key role in selling cuts to MedicaidThe federal-state health insurance program for low-income people, which Congress passed last year and has sidelined the MHA’s more controversial priorities like vaccines. That Medicaid FraudHe has also been the face of the administration’s high-profile effort to target","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/27/lights-camera-fraud-dr-oz-takes-fraud-busting-on-the-road-00802448","_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720002","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720003","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Has been the face of the administration’s high-profile effort to target Medicaid fraudWhich has focused primarily on blue states.
While Paltrow has not endorsed MAHA, she told Vanity Fair last year that she supports MAHA “Very thrilled” by Kennedy’s movement","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/gwyneth-paltrow-2025-interview","_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720004","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720005","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>“Very thrilled” by Kennedy’s movement.. Some critics adore Paltrow, who drinks raw cream in her coffee and sells supplements and youth-boosting peptide serums on her website. MAHA movementprecursor of","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/dr-jen-ganter-sees-a-direct-line-between-goop-culture-and-maha?srsltid=AfmBOoqzc5mkPy47cU4_T5RZEPJPlnvNaPtrGBPlt7mbFoa4rZxEtQiy","_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720006","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720007","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Pioneer of MAHA movement.
Means is not well known outside the MHA movement, with less than half of survey respondents having an opinion of him, but he served as the administration’s mouthpiece following Kennedy’s decision to turn the food pyramid upside down and change the dietary guidelines to recommend eating more meat. He has largely avoided talking about vaccines, instead focusing on the MHA’s food agenda.
has become green Widely criticized by scientists","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/02/the-food-babe-enemy-of-chemicals/385301/","_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720008","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720009","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Widely criticized by scientists To spread misinformation about general food items","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://maureenogle.com/maureen-ogle/2013/08/18/whats-in-your-beer-or-the-dangers-of-dumbassery","_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe1872000a","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe1872000b","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>general food itemsBut also achieved some victories. She petitioned Kraft to get the company to remove artificial colors from its mac and cheese LaterDid","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/11/01/242412024/kraft-dims-that-mac-and-cheese-artificially-orange-glow","_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe1872000c","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe1872000d","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>did later For products marketed to children. It denied that the petition was the reason. The administration has embraced Hari, invite himdo","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://foodbabe.com/fda-banning-artificial-dyes-from-our-food-watch-my-speech-at-the-hhs/","_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe1872000e","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe1872000f","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>inviting him To Lyrics","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://foodbabe.com/fda-banning-artificial-dyes-from-our-food-watch-my-speech-at-the-hhs/","_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720010","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720011","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Speak.
Under his leadership, the FDA, which regulates food and drug safety, has had a difficult year. It has been marked by high-profile departures and whiplash decisions, such as the agency’s refusal to review Moderna’s application for a new mRNA flu vaccine, which was overturned days later.
Macri’s signature effort to speed up drug review and improve the FDA’s clinical trial standards has drawn criticism from some factions of the public health world, who worry it will result in more lax safety oversight. He has also faced intense scrutiny from the Wall Street Journal editorial board, including a February opinion article that asked: “Who is in charge at FDA","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.wsj.com/opinion/vinay-prasad-fda-drug-approvals-disc-medicine-regenxbio-marty-makary-8488f514","_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720012","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18720013","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Who is in charge at FDA??”
But the administration stood by him, allowing him to hold a one-year press conference to tout his accomplishments","_Identification": :"0000019d-78c5-db52-adbf-fafd7c8f0000","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>One year press conference to tell about your achievements.
Means’ nomination has become a litmus test for Republican senators’ appetite for Kennedy’s vaccine agenda ahead of the midterm elections. After her confirmation hearing in February, during which she said vaccines “save lives” without promising to encourage people to get vaccinated, three Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, said they were not sure they would vote for her confirmation.
The White House recently confirmed its supportis of","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-palse/2026/04/02/drug-pricing-middlemen-push-back-on-reforms-00854536","_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18730000","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-867e-d648-a3bf-cffe18730001","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>recently confirmed their support.
The administration considers the soft-spoken professor to be one of its best communicators, so much so that it has given Bhattacharya several agencies to run.
Bhattacharya has struck a more diplomatic tone than some of his colleagues in the administration, saying he would oppose more firings at the CDC, support a measles vaccine, and promise Congress that the NIH, on which universities depend for billions in funding, will not ignore lawmakers’ directives that it spend its budget.
