Like the skilled propagandist he is, Robert Kennedy knows that nothing impresses a right-wing audience like surrounding himself with a fleet of fawning, mostly white women. Kennedy's version of a cheerleading squad is the "MAHA moms," a group whose name derives from the misleading "Make America Healthy Again" slogan Kennedy concocted as part of his successful bid to be Donald Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary. Kennedy is forever doing photoshoots with these women, a clutch of so-called "wellness" influencers who echo Kennedy's endless stream of false health claims, like that vaccines are dangerous, that getting the measles prevents cancer and that esoteric diet fads like frying food in beef tallow will prevent disease. It's all false. But Kennedy sells the lies with an appealing message that the homespun wisdom of "moms" should be trusted over what all those scientists and doctors have to say.
Kennedy gathered his "MAHA moms" earlier this month for a roundtable event where they marveled as he pretended he couldn't pronounce the ingredients listed on food packages. "Carrageenan, riboflavin, monosodium glutamate and 20 others that I can’t pronounce," he said, as one of the "MAHA moms" gravely intoned, "that stuff's really bad." No one mentioned the common names for these ingredients: seaweed, vitamin B2, and MSG, a common amino acid that has been demonized because it's popular in Asian food. None are linked to the chronic illnesses, like diabetes, Kennedy claims to be focused on. Some, like vitamin B, are necessary to survive.
