Robert F Kennedy, Jr’s (RFK Jr) statewide tour promoting his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda has been called “performative” by a US health consultancy.
Since taking an axe to the health agencies nested under the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in April, RFK Jr has toured states, including Colorado and Idaho, to promote his MAHA agenda.
According to the White House’s MAHA report, a key tenet of the initiative is to assist President Trump in addressing what the US health secretary has called the “childhood chronic disease crisis”, and includes vague aims to deliver more nutrient-dense food to the US population.
Wellness Equity Alliance CEO Dr Tyler B Evans told Medical Device Network: "What we’re witnessing with RFK Jr’s roadshow is not leadership, it’s theatre.
“The health secretary is cloaking vague rhetoric under the MAHA banner and selling it as reform, but the movement lacks policy substance and remains disconnected from the realities of public health. At best, it’s a distraction. At worst, it’s a dangerous misdirection that erodes trust in the institutions we need the most.”
In April, RFK Jr delivered a speech at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), coinciding with the announcement of 10,000 planned job cuts across health agencies, including the FDA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The 40-minute speech included a range of baseless claims on various topics, according to a transcript of the speech seen by Politico.
During his speech, RFK Jr stated that “this whole generation is damaged” and claimed that rising rates of chronic disease, allergies and other illnesses were attributable to “some environmental toxin”.
How effective leadership at the HHS should look
Evans emphasised that leadership at the HHS should be grounded in science, transparency, and accountability.
“It requires listening to public health professionals, not sidelining them, and to prioritise data over disinformation,” Evans said.
“I’ve worked on pandemic responses, from Ebola in West Africa to HIV/AIDS in South Africa to Covid-19 in NYC. What I’ve learned is simple: when health leadership is weak or politicised, people die unnecessarily. RFK Jr’s decision to dismantle the department’s capacity, especially during ongoing public health crises, is not reform. It is sabotage.”
RFK Jr’s MAHA tour has continued through July following the passage of Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’, which the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates will leave 11.8 million people without health insurance by 2034.
In a post to X following the bill’s success in the Senate, Democratic senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the outcome “an absolute and utter betrayal of working families”.
To best serve the US’s health, Evans said RFK Jr should focus on rebuilding trust with those most harmed by systemic neglect and called the current outcomes under the health secretary’s leadership “deeply troubling”.
Evans concluded: “Rebuilding trust requires investing in public health infrastructure, supporting workforce development, and addressing social determinants like housing, education, and food security. A national tour is not a substitute for that kind of real work.”
