Don’t Silence the MAHA Movement – Our Health and Safety Matter More Than Bureaucratic Egos

I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard my friend and colleague, Calley Means, co-founder of TrueMed and adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, being booed, ridiculed, and shouted down at the Politico Health Care Summit this week.

Apparently, the room full of health care lobbyists and partisan critics wasn’t ready to hear the truth: American health policy, as it stands, is an utter disaster. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the largest health bureaucracy in the world, is in desperate need of a complete overhaul—and it needs to happen immediately.

The backlash Calley faced came just a day after HHS began laying off 10,000 federal employees—including long-time officials from agencies like the FDA, NIH, and CMS, who have overseen the failure of America’s health system.

Calley Means on Reforming American Health Care

Shortly after Secretary Kennedy’s announcement of the restructuring, former FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf took to LinkedIn to declare, “The FDA as we've known it is finished.”

And honestly, thank goodness for that.

For decades, ineffectiveness has allowed food and chemical corporations to flood the American food system with novel chemicals, all without proper oversight or the safety studies that should have been in place. Outdated regulations have permitted American companies to poison us with ingredients they avoid in other countries—like artificial food dyes linked to hyperactivity in children and cancer in animal studies.

Even worse, poor nutritional standards have allowed infant formulas to contain "corn syrup solids"—a form of added refined sugar—as the first ingredient, essentially feeding newborns sugar right from the start.

It’s clear that we need a complete overhaul of our regulatory bodies. We need fresh thinking, new personnel free from conflicts of interest, and cutting-edge science that addresses the root causes of why we are in this crisis and how to fix it.

Our government has consistently failed to protect human health, and there are countless examples of that. But now, thanks to President Donald Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s bold vision to reverse chronic disease, we have an unprecedented opportunity for change.

The Truth Calley Spoke

What Calley said at the summit wasn’t complex: The very people who helped create this crisis shouldn’t be the ones responsible for fixing it. Yet, when he pointed out that America has “the sickest children in the developed world,” and that dismissing reform in the face of that reality is disgraceful, the room turned hostile.

He went on to argue that Secretary Kennedy is doing exactly what voters—particularly MAHA moms like me—have been asking for: removing entrenched bureaucrats who labeled independent experts as “quacks,” punished dissent, and ignored the rising rates of chronic diseases. As Calley put it, to ignore this change is “to tell the MAHA moms that their votes and voices are not legitimate.”

People voted for real change, not just minor tweaks. They voted for structural disruption. And that’s why MAHA moms like me are done being laughed at. I understand the frustration, but I also understand what’s at stake.

If our health authorities were truly working, we wouldn’t be the sickest developed country on Earth. We wouldn’t have soaring rates of obesity, infertility, and depression. The facts speak louder than the boos.

A Bold Reform Movement

Let’s be clear: this is not the first time reform has made the elite uncomfortable. Calley is a warrior, doing what true reformers do—confronting institutions that protect their own interests at all costs. And he has an army of MAHA moms standing behind him.

I’m one of them. As a longtime food activist and founder of the Food Babe movement, I’ve spent over a decade challenging the very health establishment that is now being reformed. I’ve worked directly with the MAHA moms both inside and outside the White House—mothers who have watched their children suffer from chronic illness only to be gaslit by the agencies that were supposed to protect them.

These aren’t fringe voices. These are everyday citizens demanding accountability, transparency, and a return to common sense in public health. I’m proud to stand with them.

I’ve traveled across the country with Calley, engaging in grassroots efforts to fix the damage done by the food industry—testifying in states working to reform outdated policies that allow harmful chemicals into our food and keep Americans sick.

It’s About Outcomes, Not Optics

This moment isn’t about appearances—it’s about the outcomes. Will American children be healthier in five years? Will families feel seen and served by public health institutions? Will the government finally prioritize prevention over pharmaceutical profits?

Calley should never apologize for putting America’s health first. He shouldn’t back down just because the insiders are uncomfortable. He’s part of a team that’s working to create a leaner, more transparent, and reputable HHS. And if telling the truth gets him booed again, I’m sure he’ll take the mic every single time.