Vance cozies up to MAHA movement

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The Hill's Headlines | PM - September 29, 2026

The Hill's Headlines | PM - September 29, 2026

▪ MAHA shines spotlight on Vance

▪ Hegseth’s State of the Force address

▪ AI leaders’ control pledge

▪ Schmitt’s basketball team flub

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For the second year running, Vice President Vance headlined the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement’s annual summit in Washington, D.C.

At the end of a fireside chat on Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked Vance why Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio gets all the “good memes.”

“We get tremendous support for the MAHA agenda from the White House, but from nowhere as much as the vice president’s office, and I want to thank you for that, for your commitment to our country and to our children,” Kennedy said to applause.

The exchange was a not-so-veiled allusion to the jockeying for the 2028 presidential race playing out between President Trump’s top aides, even as neither Vance or Rubio have made their White House aspirations officials.

And it highlights the key role that Kennedy’s MAHA movement will play in efforts to consolidate the coalition that helped Trump win in 2024.

During their conversation, Vance referenced his decision to take up a “carnivore” diet recommended by Kennedy that consists of meat and fermented foods such as sauerkraut while avoiding alcohol and many sugary foods. He’s one of several members of the administration who adopted the diet.

“I called Bobby and… [say], ‘Hey man, I’m thinking of giving up sugar for Lent. What are the health benefits of giving up sugar?’ And he’s like ‘No, no, no. Have I got the thing for you,’” Vance said. “And that was Fat Tuesday, and thanks to Bobby Kennedy, Fat Wednesday never came.”

The MAHA movement only embraced Trump after Kennedy dropped his Democratic presidential run against Joe Biden, launched an independent campaign then eventually dropped that and became a key GOP surrogate.

Trump ultimately credited the MAHA movement with giving a boost to his own MAGA movement and helping him win the election, rewarding Kennedy with the HHS post despite his outspoken history of vaccine skepticism.

Kennedy has pressed ahead with some priorities, such as rolling back vaccine recommendations for children.

But the alliance has been rocky at times, particularly after the Trump administration moved to expand production of a dangerous pesticide.

MAHA advocates have warned the GOP could lose its strength within the movement unless it shores up support for its voters, and there’s some signs that Democrats are looking to seize on the tensions.

Democrats who are also critical of the chemical industry have leaned into what they view as a possible alliance with MAHA. Earlier this year, they jumped at the opportunity to grill Kennedy during congressional hearings following the president’s executive order prioritizing the domestic production of glyphosate, a key ingredient in the controversial herbicide Roundup.

On Tuesday, Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed launched a new health platform called “Building a Healthier America Policy Agenda,” which seeks accountability for polluters and backs legislation allowing people to sue pesticide manufacturers over harms caused by their products, CBS News reported.

More than one third of the American public identifies as MAHA supporters, and roughly two thirds of them lean Republican, according to polling from the spring. But some Democrats think it’s not a foregone conclusion that MAHA backers will vote GOP.

“I think we have an opportunity to remind folks that we’ve always been the people who want people to be healthier, rather than the folks who capitulate to the food, ag and pharmaceutical corporations that are too often on the wrong side of things,” El-Sayed told CBS.

Vance and Kennedy played up areas in which the administration can be aligned with MAHA, such as with the use of AI to push back on advice given by medical experts, and the fight against fraud within health and social support system — another Vance priority.

Back at the White House, Rubio joined other Trump officials in rolling out America.gov.

Just last month, Rubio was asked about his own eating habits on Katie Miller’s podcast. He admitted to straying from Kennedy’s carnivore and ferments diet.

“The Pop-Tart is one of the great American innovations in history,” Rubio said.

“I’m not gonna travel the world with a cooler........

© The Hill