Kennedy defends new surgeon general pick from MAGA backlash

By Ahmed Aboulenein

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended new surgeon general pick Casey Means on Thursday from attacks from influential far-right activist Laura Loomer, whose critiques of Trump administration officials have preceded their ouster.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated Means, a physician, health entrepreneur, and vocal proponent of Kennedy's "Make America Healthy Again" agenda, after abruptly withdrawing his nomination of Janette Nesheiwat a day before her Senate committee confirmation hearing.

Loomer is a prominent voice within Trump's Make America Great Again movement and has claimed credit for influencing his personnel decisions in the past, including the dismissal of six members of his National Security Council. She called for Nesheiwat's nomination to be withdrawn earlier this week.

On Thursday, Loomer described Means as a "terrible pick by President Trump" and a "MAHA grifter" on social media platform X, saying she was not a practicing physician and citing her writings on spiritual practices. She accused Kennedy of appointing "Marxists and Trump haters" as health secretary.

Kennedy said Means, a longtime ally and prominent voice in his "Make America Healthy Again" movement, was the perfect choice for surgeon general, because she had left the traditional medical system. Means could not be reached for comment.

"Casey has excelled in every endeavor she has undertaken. She was President of her Stanford undergrad class, was a standout at Stanford Medical School, and was a top performer in surgical residency," Kennedy wrote on X. "She had the courage to leave traditional medicine because she realized her patients weren't getting better."

He blamed "badly entrenched interests--including Big Food and its industry-funded social media gurus" for the backlash against Means.

Kennedy went on to defend Means in a Fox News interview on Thursday night and said the MAHA commission report Trump tasked him with would be coming next week.

Trump signed an executive order to establish a commission to "Make America Healthy Again," during Kennedy's swearing in ceremony on February 13 and tasked it with investigating chronic illness and delivering an action plan to fight childhood diseases, starting with a report due within 100 days.

Kennedy also said he had a frank discussion with pharmaceutical companies on Wednesday on how to reduce direct advertising to consumers, but provided no details.

(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Michael Perry)