When a “Make America Healthy Again” summit was held at the posh Waldorf Astoria in Washington, the line of attendees stretched down the block.
The daylong, invitation-only event in November featured a who’s who of MAHA luminaries. Vice President JD Vance attended, as did Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the leader of the ad hoc movement whose members rail against vaccines, Big Pharma, and ultraprocessed food.
During a fireside chat that organizers broadcasted online, Vance extolled MAHA’s impact on the Trump administration, calling it “a critical part of our success in Washington.”
The summit underscored just how closely Republicans have hitched themselves to the MAHA campaign, banking on its popularity to give them an electoral bounce in the midterms. But the strategy carries risks, because support for Kennedy is cratering and polls show voters care more about reducing health care costs than MAHA priorities such as ending vaccine mandates and promoting raw milk.
“Polls show clearly MAHA issues are not the top issues for people,” said Robert Blendon, a professor emeritus of health policy and political analysis at Harvard University. “The top health care voting issue is cost, and costs are actually rising.”
The disconnect was on display Nov. 12, the day of the MAHA summit, where attendees picked up swag bags and mingled amid the hotel’s blue-velvet couches and crystal chandeliers.
A few blocks away at the White House, President Donald Trump that day signed legislation to reopen the federal government. The 43-day shutdown centered on disagreement over expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, which Democrats wanted to extend and GOP congressional lea …