Robert F. Kennedy Jr. noted in August 2024 that a major factor behind his decision to endorse President Donald Trump was the opportunity to help "Make America Healthy Again" in a future Trump administration.

"Don't you want healthy children?" Kennedy said in a speech. "And don't you want the chemicals out of our food? And don't you want the regulatory agencies to be free from corporate corruption? And that's what President Trump told me that he wanted."

Since his hotly contested confirmation as Trump's Health and Human Services secretary in February, Kennedy has worked ardently to deliver on the promise of MAHA.

Already, HHS under his tutelage has secured numerous victories on the health front, including the:

cancellation of mRNA vaccine development contracts;
elimination of the Biden-era vaccine-reporting requirement and corresponding incentive system for hospitals;
termination of thousands of bureaucrats along with senior establishmentarians such as Christine Grady, the wife of former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci;
removal of retarding fluoride drug products for children from the market;
requirement that Pfizer and Moderna add new safety warnings to their COVID-19 vaccines; and
removal of the COVID vaccine from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommended vaccine schedule for healthy pregnant women and children.

Although the Trump administration has delivered many MAHA wins, three in particular stand out as particularly consequential.

Fresh start at the ACIP

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is the federal panel whose vaccine recommendations become official policy at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and apply to the entire American population once adopted by the agency's director — a position which, at the time of writing, was vacant thanks to Susan Monarez's firing on Wednesday.

Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Kennedy fired all 17 members of the ACIP in June.

While every member of the ACIP was a Biden administration appointee, the health secretary's principle concern was not the panelists' politics but rather their cozy relationships with some of the organizations they were tasked with scrutinizing.

For instance, data provided on OpenPaymentData.CMS.gov, a site managed by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, indicated that Edwin Jose Asturias, one of the ACIP members whom Kennedy fired, collected around $54,000 from pharmaceutical companies, including $20,705 in what appear to be consulting fees.

Blaze News previously reported that among the companies that paid Asturias what appear to have been consulting fees were Pfizer and Merck Sharpe & Dohme LLC, a bio-pharmaceutical subsidiary of the company whose pneumococcal vaccine Capvaxive the committee voted to recommend in October. Asturias also apparently netted millions in research support from Big Pharma, including over $3.1 million from Pfizer and over $730,000 from the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline LLC.

Like Asturias, Kennedy noted "most of ACIP's members have received substantial funding from pharmaceutical companies, including those marketing vaccines."

Kennedy indicated that the individuals he appointed to the newly cleared panel were "highly credentialed physicians and scientists who will make extremely consequential public health determinations by applying evidence-based decision-making with objectivity and common sense" and had "each committed to demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations."

Nuking gender ideology

Pursuant to President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14168, the HHS has taken a wrecking ball to gender ideology.

For starters, the department released guidance to the U.S. government, to the public, and to external partners that sex is an immutable biological classification and that there are only two sexes, male and female.

The department has applied this standard to civil rights enforcement, health care policy, and sports eligibility; launched federal civil rights investigations into whether various states violated Title IX by allowing men in women's sports; canceled funding for related programs and activities; and scrubbed its websites of messaging, guidance, and language that advanced gender ideology.

The HHS has also conditioned federal funding for states' Personal Responsibility Education Program grants on the removal of all references to gender ideology.

California learned the hard way and had its PREP grant terminated on Aug. 21. The HHS' Administration for Children and Families noted in a release that the agency would not tolerate funding "curricula that could encourage kids to contemplate mutilating their genitals, 'altering their body ... through hormone therapy,' 'adding or removing breast tissue,' and 'changing their name.'"

Axing artificial food coloring

The HHS outlined a plan in April to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic dyes from America's food supply.

Vani Hari, a critic of the food industry who founded Food Babe, told Blaze News in November that the brighter artificial colors, which are helpful with sales and attractive to children, are harmful to their health.

"The science shows that these dyes cause hyperactivity in children, can disrupt the immune system, and are contaminated with carcinogens," said Hari.

Red dye 40, for instance, has been linked in some studies to hyperactivity disorders in children, and, according to the Cleveland Clinic, has various potential side effects, including depression, irritability, and migraines.

A 2021 paper in the peer-reviewed journal Advances in Nutrition noted that blue dye 1 has been found to cause chromosomal aberrations and "was found to inhibit neurite growth and act synergistically with L-glutamic acid in vitro, suggesting the potential for neurotoxicity."

In short order, the U.S Food and Drug Administration kicked off the process of revoking authorization for Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B in the short term and to eliminate another six synthetic dyes — FD&C Green No. 3, FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 5, FD&C Yellow No. 6, FD&C Blue No. 1, and FD&C Blue No. 2 — by the end of next year.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The FDA also requested that companies move up their timelines for the removal of FD&C Red No. 3.

"These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children’s health and development," Kennedy said in a statement. "That era is coming to an end. We're restoring gold-standard science, applying common sense, and beginning to earn back the public's trust."

Numerous food manufacturers and fast-food chains have fallen in line or taken big steps in the right direction, including General Mills; Kraft Heinz; Starbucks; PepsiCo; Danone North America; TreeHouse Foods; Tyson Foods; and In-N-Out Burger.

In addition to tackling synthetic dyes, the HHS has paved the way for the use of food coloring from natural sources. In May, the FDA granted new color additive petitions for galdieria extract blue, butterfly pea flower extract, and calcium phosphate.

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Big shake-up at CDC: Director gets the boot; gay vax chief resigns, attacks RFK Jr. on way out

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is executing a historic shake-up at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in an effort to maximize efficiency, save taxpayers money, and make America healthy again. The full-spectrum changes have enraged establishmentarians both inside and outside his agency.

It's clear from the executive ouster and revolt that took place Wednesday at the Centers for Disease Control that Kennedy is not backing down and upsetting all the right people.

Susan Monarez — figured for a mainstream nominee after President Donald Trump's first pick, Dave Weldon, was concern-mongered out of contention — was sworn in as CDC director on July 31. She was not long for the role.

Early Wednesday evening, HHS announced that "Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

The department noted further that Kennedy has full confidence in his team at the CDC "who will continue to be vigilant in protecting Americans against infectious diseases at home and abroad."

Hours later, attorneys Abbe Lowell and Mark Zaid released a joint statement noting that their client, Monarez, "has been targeted" for supposedly refusing "to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts" and choosing to protect "the public over serving a political agenda."

Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The attorneys noted further that Monarez "had neither resigned nor received notification from the White House that she has been fired" and that she refuses to resign.

The White House was quick to burst their bubble, notifying her that she was fired.

White House spokesman Kush Desai told the New York Times in a statement both that Monarez was "not aligned with the president's agenda of Making America Healthy Again" and that "the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC."

The Washington Post editorial board hinted in June at Monarez's "power to frustrate the anti-vaccine agenda of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.," noting she was a champion of mRNA vaccines — the very vaccines Kennedy pulled the plug on this month — and that she could fight the health secretary's appointees on the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices to protect the current childhood vaccine schedule.

Blaze News has reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services for comment.

'They risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States.'

While it's presently unclear which straw broke the camel's back, an official alleged to the Times that Kennedy ordered Monarez to his office on Monday and demanded her resignation. Upon her refusal, Kennedy allegedly told her to can the CDC's top leadership by week's end.

According to the unnamed official, Monarez tried to go over Kennedy's head, complaining to Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.), chairman of the Senate health committee, and other senators. This reportedly infuriated Kennedy, prompting him to allegedly accuse Monarez of "being a leaker."

Zaid claimed that because President Donald Trump had not personally told Monarez to hit the bricks, the notification of her termination was "legally deficient and she remains as CDC director."

While Monarez is apparently resisting her ouster, the top leadership at the CDC went willingly.

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

NBC News confirmed that at least four officials threw in the towel, including Debra Houry, the chief medical officer; Daniel Jernigan, the director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Disease; and Jen Layden, director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology.

Demetre Daskalakis, the sex-obsessed homosexual "activist physician" who served as director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases and previously served as Joe Biden's monkeypox adviser, announced on Wednesday that he too was resigning, likening his decision to a Greek partisan's fight against fascist forces.

Blaze News previously reported that Daskalakis, an LGBT activist with a track record of pushing drugs to facilitate promiscuous sexual behavior among homosexuals, had a history of denigrating straight Americans, sharing satanic imagery on social media, and showing up in public in bondage gear.

Daskalakis' resignation letter, which he shared on X, is full of clues pointing to why Kennedy may have wanted someone else at the top of the agency.

In addition to using the term "pregnant people" in reference to expectant mothers, the monkeypox expert personally attacked Kennedy; retroactively rejected the "thoughts and prayers" shared by the health secretary and his colleagues in the wake of the Aug. 8 shooting at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta; criticized recent changes to the adult and children immunization schedules; bemoaned Kennedy's replacement of industry-compromised members on the CDC's vaccine advisory panel; and equated support for natural immunity to "eugenics."

Daskalakis also noted that he was resigning because of the "recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision."

"If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States," added the monkeypox expert.

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'It's immoral': RFK Jr. axes Biden vax reporting requirement, targets doctors' 'hidden incentives'

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is taking a wrecking ball to the status quo in hopes of significantly improving American health.

In addition to holding ultra-processed food giants' feet to the fire over harmful ingredients, Kennedy has given thousands of bureaucrats the boot; fired all of the Biden administration appointees on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices; called out Big Pharma's outsized influence in Congress; canceled mRNA development contracts; raised concerns about the harmful effects of popular herbicides; and set his sights on making it more difficult for pharmaceutical giants to push their products directly to patients.

'Doctors are being paid to vaccinate, not to evaluate. They're pressured to follow the money, not the science.'

On Friday, Kennedy delivered another crushing blow, announcing both the elimination of a "dangerous Biden-era provision in the [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] inpatient payment rule" and the imminent elimination of doctors' "hidden incentives" to load American children with vaccines.

"Should doctors make decisions based upon what's best for their patients? Or based upon what makes them the most money? It's not a tough question, but we've inherited a health care system that constantly pushes doctors toward the latter," said Kennedy. "It rewards certain treatments, not because they're better for the patient but because someone profits."

"Take what happened during COVID," continued the health secretary. "Hospitals were paid to report staff vaccination rates. Those numbers were fed into the National Healthcare Safety Network, then published on the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] website to shame any hospital that refused to become an enforcer of federal vaccine mandates."

The policy tied hospital reimbursement under the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program to staff vaccination reporting. Hospitals that failed to meet this program requirement were subject to a one-fourth reduction in their Annual Payment Update under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System.

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

HHS under Kennedy has acknowledged that this incentive was "coercive and denied informed consent," serving as a "tool for public shaming, not public health."

In addition to removing this measure, the CMS is removing other reporting requirements from the program, including the "Hospital Commitment to Health Equity" measure, a DEI hoop hospitals had to jump through as a result of former President Joe Biden's executive order "Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government."

'Medical decisions should be based upon one thing and one thing only: the well-being of the patient.'

This DEI measure assessed whether hospitals made equity a strategic priority; planned to use resources to achieve equity goals; collected racial data; and had leaders and staff demonstrate "routine and thorough attention to equity."

CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement, "Doctors and other providers should have the same autonomy to choose what’s right for their own individual health care needs as the patients for whom they care. Today’s announcement helps put that power back in their hands."

Kennedy underscored that "we're not stopping there."

SementsovaLesia/Getty Images

"We're scanning every corner of the health care system for hidden incentives that corrupt medical judgment," said the health secretary. "What we're finding is alarming. Doctors are being paid to vaccinate, not to evaluate. They're pressured to follow the money, not the science."

Jake Scott, a clinical associate professor of infectious diseases at Stanford University, recently indicated that whereas the childhood vaccine schedule contained around 11 doses protecting against seven diseases in 1986, the schedule now includes roughly 50 injections covering 16 diseases. Between 30 and 32 shots are typically required for kids to attend state schools.

Apparently doctors get a bonus for pushing these jabs on kids.

Kennedy revealed that HHS has discovered that over 36,000 doctors nationwide "had their Medicare reimbursements altered based upon childhood vaccination rates."

"That's not medicine. That's coercion. It's immoral," said the health secretary. "It has no place in a constitutional democracy or in a system that claims to protect children. Medical decisions should be made based upon one thing and one thing only: the well-being of the patient — never on a financial bonus or a government mandate."

HHS indicated that these policy repeals are part of a broader campaign to "restore medical autonomy in federally funded programs and root out financial and regulatory pressures that incentivize physicians towards pre-scripted medical decisions rather than individualized, evidence-based care."

Blaze News has reached out to HHS for comment about other policy repeals.

— (@)

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RFK Jr pulls plug on mRNA jabs because they 'pose more risks than benefits'

Government officials, the establishment media, and pharmaceutical representatives advertised the experimental mRNA vaccines that were rushed to market during the pandemic as "safe and effective."

Those who correctly suggested otherwise were often attacked and censored, and many of those Americans who refused the jabs — the first-ever mRNA vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — lost their jobs. Meanwhile, the liability-shielded manufacturers of the vaccines enjoyed record profits.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long understood that the mRNA vaccines "don't prevent transmission" and suggested in 2021 that the COVID-19 jab might be "the deadliest vaccine ever made," announced on Monday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is winding down its mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

'The vaccine paradoxically encourages new mutations.'

Blaze News senior editor Daniel Horowitz, author of "Rise of the Fourth Reich: Confronting COVID Fascism with a New Nuremberg Trial So This Never Happens Again," said in response to the announcement that "there have been concerns in the medical freedom movement that RFK has forgotten about the issue that brought him to the ball amidst his focus on healthy food. However, yesterday's cancellation of mRNA research contracts shows that he has steadily maintained his focus on the dangers of mRNA."

"Over the past few weeks, BARDA reviewed 22 mRNA vaccine development investments and began canceling them," said Kennedy.

"Most of these shots are for flu or COVID, but as the pandemic showed us, mRNA vaccines don't perform well against viruses that affect the upper respiratory tract."

Kennedy noted that mRNA "only codes for a small part of the viral proteins" and that all it takes for the vaccine to become useless is a single mutation.

"This dynamic drives a phenomenon called 'antigenic shift,' meaning that the vaccine paradoxically encourages new mutations and can actually prolong pandemics as the virus constantly mutates to escape the protective effects of the vaccine," said the health secretary.

After consulting with experts and reviewing the relevant science, HHS has concluded that "mRNA technology poses more risks than benefits for these respiratory viruses," said Kennedy.

HHS indicated that its wind-down of the mRNA regime includes axing the agency's contracts with Emory University and Tiba Biotech; the "de-scoping of mRNA-related work in existing contracts with Luminary Labs, ModeX, and Seqirus"; and canceling or rejecting pre-award solicitations, including proposals from Pfizer and Sanofi Pasteur.

'Those shots are very problematic yet have received new approval.'

HHS has further instructed Global Health Investment — its partner that managed BARDA Ventures — to cease all mRNA-based equity investments and indicated that no new mRNA projects will be greenlit. However, a handful of final-stage contracts will apparently be permitted to wrap up "to preserve prior taxpayer investment."

Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

When pressed for further comment, HHS referred Blaze News to its press release.

"Let me be absolutely clear: HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them," said Kennedy. "That’s why we're moving beyond the limitations of mRNA for respiratory viruses and investing in better solutions."

While celebrating the cancellations, Horowitz noted that the key test will be whether Kennedy goes after existing approval for the current mRNA shots both for COVID and RSV.

"Those shots are very problematic yet have received new approval," said Horowitz. "Moderna has received approval for its new COVID shots. Likewise, despite its children's RSV shot showing negative efficacy ... Moderna had its mRNA RSV shot for seniors approved."

Horowitz added, "It reflects what is likely a balancing act for Bobby — attempting to implement what he knows is right in the face of some mRNA lobbyists close to the president who want to see the shots continue. This is going to be a constant tug-of-war, but it's good to see that RFK hasn't given up on the fight."

HHS' about-face on mRNA technology comes just weeks after the FDA required Pfizer and Moderna to update the side-effect warnings on their mRNA vaccines.

The FDA indicated on June 25 that it required Pfizer and Moderna to note the estimated unadjusted incidence of heart conditions following administration of the 2023-2024 formula of the Comirnaty and Spikevax vaccines, as well as the longitudinal results of a 2024 study concerning cardiac manifestations and outcomes of vaccine-associated myocarditis in American youths.

The agency required both vaccine manufacturers to include this information in the adverse reactions section of the jab information inserts.

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MTG asks DOJ to drop charges against 'hero' doctor accused of destroying COVID vaccines, giving out fake vax records

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and other Republican lawmakers expressed support this week for Dr. Michael Kirk Moore Jr., the Utah plastic surgeon presently on trial and facing more than 35 years in jail for allegedly destroying COVID-19 vaccines and handing out fraudulent fake vaccination records during the pandemic.

Moore, his neighbor Kristin Jackson Andersen, and two others were charged in 2023 with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government; conspiracy to convert, sell, convey, and dispose of government property; and conversion, sale, conveyance, and disposal of government property as well as aiding and abetting.

According to the federal indictment, Moore — a member of a group seeking to "'liberate' the medical profession from government and industry conflicts of interest" — signed a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Vaccination Program Provider Agreement in order to secure COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination record cards. He then ordered hundreds of doses of vaccines from the CDC.

Instead of administering the vaccines, Moore, 58, allegedly dumped around $28,000 worth of doses down the drain and handed out vaccination record cards in exchange for cash or donations to a charitable organization.

Between May 2021 and September 2022, the defendants also allegedly administered harmless "saline shots to minor children to trick them into thinking they had received a vaccine" at the request of their parents.

The Biden Department of Justice was evidently keen to throw Moore in jail; however, he has since become something of a folk hero for giving Americans a way to avoid experimental medicine at a time when vaccines were being foisted on the population.

'This man is a hero, not a criminal.'

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. noted in April that Moore "deserves a medal for his courage and his commitment to healing."

"He's one of the few surgeons who stood against the worst COVID-era mandates," said Texas surgeon Dr. Eithan Haim. "Which is why they're trying to send him to prison."

Photo illustration by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

As jury selection began for his 15-day trial on Monday, supporters rallied in support of Moore outside the Orrin G. Hatch U.S. Courthouse in Salt Lake City.

Among those who showed up were Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz (R) and Republican state Reps. Karianne Lisonbee and Trevor Lee, reported the Utah News Dispatch.

"The way those of us [who] stood up and pushed back were treated was wrong. We were treated like second-class citizens if we didn't get the shot, we didn’t get the vaccine," Schultz told the crowd. "Think about it for just a minute. You had to have a vaccine passport to walk down the streets and go into a shop, to go to a Jazz game, to go to a restaurant. That was unbelievable."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced Tuesday that she was writing a letter to the Department of Justice asking that all charges be dropped against Moore — a move celebrated by Dr. Robert Malone, one of Robert F. Kennedy's new appointments to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

"This man is a hero, not a criminal," wrote Greene. "The Covid vaccine kills and injures people, but this brave doctor, who is a veteran by the way, is being prosecuted for helping people avoid tyrannical vaccine mandates under Democrats."

"Big Pharma was given billions of taxpayer's [sic] dollars for experimental covid vaccines and then the MrNA covid vaccines were forced on Americans, our military, and our children against their will," continued Greene. "Covid vaccines do not stop the spread of covid and are proven to cause life threatening myocarditis, miscarriages, strokes, blood clots, and many other issues that many Americans are angrily still dealing with today."

Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie (R) echoed Greene, noting that Moore "should NOT be prosecuted for helping people avoid the tyrannical vax mandates, which were based on a corrupted FDA approval process."

Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

Utah Sen. Mike Lee (R), who has repeatedly suggested that Kirk be let off the hook, said on Thursday, "I'm both surprised and disappointed that Dr. Kirk Moore is still being prosecuted — potentially facing three decades in prison — considering all that we've learned about COVID, the vaccines, and the unjust mandates imposed by the Biden administration."

"I just did what was right," Dr. Moore said outside the courthouse, clearly overwhelmed by the support.

Blaze News has reached out to the DOJ for comment.

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Sex-changing frogs and infertile humans: Will MAHA target infamous herbicide contaminating America's water?

Atrazine is one of the most extensively used herbicides in the United States. On average, well over 70 million pounds of atrazine is sprayed every year on agricultural crops like corn and sugarcane.

This chlorotriazine herbicide — reportedly the most commonly detected herbicide in American tap water — is a potent endocrine and metabolic disruptor linked to numerous adverse health effects including birth defects, cancer, reduced sperm counts, and infertility.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized atrazine as "a surface water and groundwater contaminant that can enter waterways in agricultural runoff from row crops" and "cause human health problems if present in public or private water supplies in amounts greater than the drinking water standard set by EPA."

Atrazine, first registered for use in 1958 and banned by the European Union in 2004, enjoys continued support stateside by the agricultural industry despite having contaminated thousands of American communities' water supplies.

Despite years of pushback from concerned citizen and activist groups — including a class action lawsuit against agrichemical giant Syngenta, for instance, which resulted in a $105 million settlement with a number of impacted communities — the chemical compound continues to be sprayed, continues to adversely impact wildlife, and continues to leak into water systems.

That could soon change.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly raised alarm about the herbicide, its ubiquity, and its adverse impacts on various forms of life. While campaigning for president last year, he promised he would ban the chemical outright if given the chance.

'It's a gay bomb, baby.'

Now that Kennedy is running both the Department of Health and Human Services and President Donald Trump's Make America Healthy Again Commission, he can press the issue of atrazine's ruinous health effects and perhaps even change some minds over at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates herbicides.

The meme

Various activists and advocacy groups have campaigned for decades against atrazine — the use of which farmers claim helps increase production revenue. However, one of the most effective critics in terms of drawing the public's attention to the herbicide's undesirable effects appears to have been Infowars founder Alex Jones.

OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

In an October 2015 Infowars segment, Jones discussed the Pentagon's consideration in the early 2000s of a so-called "gay bomb" — a non-lethal chemical weapon that could hypothetically disperse unrelated sex pheromones among enemy forces and trigger homosexual engagements.

Jones segued to atrazine, saying, "What do you think tap water is? It's a gay bomb, baby."

What followed has since been memorialized in a myriad of memes.

"I don't like 'em putting chemicals in the water that turn the friggin' frogs gay," said Jones.

'Atrazine has caused a hormonal imbalance that has made them develop into the wrong sex, in terms of their genetic constitution.'

Elements of the mainstream media appeared desperate to characterize Jones' viral suggestion about the effects of the widely used herbicide atrazine as ludicrous.

CNBC, for instance, mentioned the chemical-induced changes in frogs second in a top-5 list of Jones' "most disturbing and ridiculous conspiracy theories." Jones' claims about government-executed weather modification, which are well-documented, also made CNBC's list.

An article in Forbes titled "Alex Jones' Top 10 Health Claims And Why They Are Wrong" similarly suggested that Jones was off his rocker on the matter of atrazine and sexually impacted amphibians. Forbes not only attacked Jones over his frog remarks but insinuated his claims about weather modification and fluoride's adverse impact on IQ — which the National Toxicology Program acknowledged as an unfortunate fact in a report last year — were "ridiculous."

As with weather modification and fluoride's retarding effect, Jones was sensational in his delivery but right over target.

The studies

In his famous rant, Jones was referencing a study by University of California, Berkeley endocrinologist and amphibian biologist Tyrone Hayes, which detailed how atrazine messed up the reproductive functions of adult male frogs — emasculating three-quarters of them and prompting one in 10 to develop female sexual organs.

Debra Ferguson/Design Pics Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Hayes told UC Berkeley News in 2010, "We have animals that are females, in the sense that they behave like females: They have estrogen, lay eggs, they mate with other males. Atrazine has caused a hormonal imbalance that has made them develop into the wrong sex, in terms of their genetic constitution."

"These kinds of problems, like sex-reversing animals skewing sex ratios, are much more dangerous than any chemical that would kill off a population of frogs," continued Hayes. "In exposed populations, it looks like there are frogs breeding but, in fact, the population is being very slowly degraded by the introduction of these altered animals."

Long before the media tried spinning Jones' claims as ridiculous, Syngenta, a major manufacturer of atrazine, tried downplaying Hayes' findings.

According to the New Yorker, Syngenta's public relations team identified over 100 "supportive third party stakeholders," including 25 professors, who would defend atrazine or serve as "spokespeople on Hayes."

'It's in 63% of our drinking water.'

While some of the apparent defenders of atrazine have suggested frogs are a poor stand-in for human beings, it's abundantly clear that the herbicide can also wreak havoc on human health.

For starters:

A 2001 paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives linked atrazine exposure to miscarriages.
A 2006 paper in Environmental Health Perspectives linked atrazine exposure to reduced semen quality.
A 2011 paper in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research noted that atrazine was "associated with menstrual cycle irregularity and altered hormones."
A 2011 paper in Environmental Health Perspectives noted that "the presence versus absence of quantifiable levels of atrazine or a specific atrazine metabolite was associated with fetal growth restriction ... and small head circumference for sex and gestational age."
A 2018 paper in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health noted "an association between atrazine concentrations in drinking water and the odds of term [low birth weight] births within communities served by water systems enrolled in [the EPA's] Atrazine Monitoring Program in Ohio."
A 2020 paper in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Endocrinology indicated atrazine might contribute to the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
A 2024 paper in Environmental Health Perspectives highlighted associated cancer risks among applicators of atrazine.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Scientific Advisory Panel concluded in a 2011 review of the human health impacts of atrazine that "the cancers for which there is suggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential include: ovarian cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, hairy-cell leukemia and thyroid cancer."

The panel suggested further that the jury was out at the time regarding associations between atrazine and prostate cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer, esophageal cancers, and childhood cancers.

Despite atrazine's apparent linkages to various medical issues, the EPA concluded in a 2018 human health risk assessment that "there are no dietary (food), residential handler, non-occupational spray drift, or occupational post-application risk estimates of concern for the registered uses of atrazine."

Two years later, the same agency stated, "Atrazine is likely to adversely affect 54 percent of all species and 40 percent of critical habitats."

The MAHA momentum

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has criticized the use of atrazine on multiple occasions.

In September 2024, Kennedy tweeted, "We need to ban atrazine now."

"It's banned in Europe, banned all over the world, but we use it here. It's in 63% of our drinking water," Kennedy told Jordan Peterson in a September 2024 interview.

"We don't know what impact it's having on our children."

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Kennedy noted on his own podcast in 2022, "The capacity for these chemicals that we are just raining down on our children right now to induce these very profound sexual changes in them is something we need to be thinking about as a society."

Kennedy's concerns appear to have followed him onto the MAHA Commission.

The 68-page MAHA Commission report, which came out in May, recognized that "children's unique behaviors and developmental physiology make them particularly vulnerable to potential adverse health effects" from cumulative exposures to various chemicals. In addition to microplastics, fluoride, phthalates, and bisphenols, the report mentioned crop protection tools, including atrazine, as chemicals requiring further study.

"In experimental animal and wildlife studies, exposure to another herbicide (atrazine) can cause endocrine disruption and birth defects," said the report.

'The second policy report will be a prescription for America.'

Despite the commission signaling a desire to ensure "not just the survival, but the prosperity, of American Farmers," and indicating farmers' crop protection tools won't be targeted with further restrictions or regulations without "thoughtful consideration," the Triazine Network, a coalition of groups involved in the regulation of atrazine, complained that "the assertion in the MAHA Commission's report that pesticides such as atrazine are responsible for childhood illness is irresponsible, inaccurate, and is not backed by credible scientific data."

The MAHA Report also struck a nerve with Alexandra Dunn, president and CEO of CropLife America — a trade association of agrochemical companies.

"Pesticides are thoroughly studied and highly regulated for safety," Dunn said in a statement. "This report will stir unjustified fear and confusion among American consumers who live in the country with the safest and most abundant food supply."

While it might upset manufacturers of pesticides, recent polling suggests Americans are dissatisfied with the status quo and want a closer look at what goes into their food and drink.

The latest Axios/Ipsos American Health Index poll revealed that 87% of Americans say "the government should do more to make sure food is safe, such as updating nutritional guidelines, adding labels to foods with artificial dyes, or reducing exposure to pesticides."

When pressed for comment about future plans concerning atrazine, an HHS spokesperson told Blaze News that "after the MAHA Report, the next step is to develop policy recommendations, grounded in gold-standard science and common sense. This report is a diagnosis."

"The second policy report will be a prescription for America," continued the spokesperson. "As the report outlines, Secretary Kennedy is committed to thoughtful consideration of what is necessary for adequate protection, alternatives, and cost of production."

Blaze News reached out for comment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — which is working on its Updated Mitigation Proposal for atrazine — but did not receive a response by deadline.

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USDA exploring possibility of mass vaccinations for American poultry despite RFK Jr.'s warnings

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warned earlier this year that vaccinating poultry against highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5) viruses might transform farms into incubators for mutant viruses — viruses that could potentially leap to humans.

"All of my agencies have advised against the vaccination of birds," Kennedy told Fox News' Sean Hannity, "because if you vaccinate with a leaky vaccine — in other words, a vaccine that does not provide sterilizing immunity, that does not absolutely protect against the disease — you turn those flocks into mutation factories."

"They're teaching the organism how to mutate," continued Kennedy. "And it's much more likely to jump to animals if you do that."

Despite Kennedy's concern — which is apparently shared by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration — the U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking seriously at mass vaccinations for American poultry.

A USDA spokesperson told Blaze News that the USDA "is exploring the viability of vaccinating poultry for HPAI" but noted that the "use of any vaccine has not been authorized at this time."

This vaccine exploration appears to have taken on greater energy in February when egg prices were reaching record highs.

After flying south of $3 between 1994 and 2022, the price for a dozen eggs began to rise dramatically during the second half of the Biden era, then even higher earlier this year, reaching an all-time average high of $6.22 in March.

Allen J. Schaben/Getty Images

Although there were multiple factors at play — including the shift in various states to cage-free hens and record consumer demand — the price spikes were largely driven by the mass exterminations of commercial and backyard bird populations ordered by the USDA in response to HPAI viruses.

Blaze News previously noted that between Feb. 8, 2022 — when the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service first confirmed bird flu belonging to the clade 2.3.4.4b in an American commercial flock — and March 2025, the USDA directed the extermination of over 166.41 million birds. Fewer egg-laying birds naturally means diminished supply and higher prices.

'Vaccination in any poultry sector — egg layers, turkeys, broilers, or ducks — will jeopardize the entire export market for all U.S. poultry products.'

In a Feb. 26 op-ed, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins outlined "five steps to tackle avian flu and bring down costs for American families."

In addition to dedicating up to $500 million to help American poultry producers implement "gold-standard" biosecurity measures, increasing financial relief to farms whose flocks are affected by avian flu, removing "unnecessary regulatory burdens on egg producers where possible," and considering temporary import options, Rollins said her agency would "provide up to $100 million in research and development of vaccines and therapeutics, to improve their efficacy and efficiency."

Although egg prices have returned to relatively normal levels, a USDA spokesperson told Blaze News that the agency continues "to evaluate the potential use of vaccines."

"Before making a determination, USDA, in consultation with federal partners, will solicit feedback from state officials, veterinarians, farmers, the public health system, and the American public," said the spokesperson. "USDA is working with federal and state officials and industry stakeholders to develop a potential plan for vaccine use in the United States."

Reuters indicated that industry members anticipate that the agency will complete its plan in July.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (left) and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins (right). Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

There is some controversy over the potential mass vaccination of poultry on the business side of the equation.

Dr. John Clifford, a former USDA chief veterinary officer who advises the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, told Reuters that chicken meat producers would be dealt a crushing blow if importers stopped importing U.S. poultry over concerns that vaccines were masking the presence of HPAI in flocks.

Some industry groups are, however, warming up to the idea.

Although the National Chicken Council previously suggested that "vaccination in any poultry sector — egg layers, turkeys, broilers, or ducks — will jeopardize the entire export market for all U.S. poultry products," they have since suggested they are on board with the program if exports go unaffected.

The United Egg Producers are apparently even more gung-ho, having helped hatch a plan suggesting an initial vaccination for baby chicks, a subsequent booster shot, then routine testing.

Nicolas Hulscher, an epidemiologist and administrator at the McCullough Foundation, has suggested mass poultry vaccinations are unwise, telling Blaze News that Kennedy's "worries about mass animal H5N1 bird flu vaccination are fully grounded in robust science."

'Biosecurity remains the best and most prudent approach to mitigate the impact of the disease today.'

When asked about the possibility that the USDA might nevertheless proceed with the mass vaccination agenda, Hulscher said that "the USDA is ignoring the glaring risks of creating dangerous mutant strains with their plans to mass vaccinate poultry against bird flu amidst a bird flu animal pandemic."

Blaze News senior editor Daniel Horowitz drove home the point in a recent op-ed, noting that "leaky, waning vaccines that rely on suboptimal antibodies against rapidly mutating viruses can lead to immune tolerance and imprinting. This can cause the immune system to misfire, resulting in negative efficacy. Any short-term protection against severe disease often comes at a long-term cost as the viruses adapt and grow stronger."

Hulscher suggested that the best way forward when tackling HPAI in domestic flocks is better biosecurity: "Installing surface-air purification systems into farms, combined with iodine-based nasal/oral prophylaxis for farm workers, is a much less risky option than mass vaccination."

On this, it appears the USDA agrees.

The agency spokesperson told Blaze News that in the meantime, "because biosecurity remains the best and most prudent approach to mitigate the impact of the disease today, USDA also continues pursuing collaborative efforts with poultry farmers and companies on education, training, and implementation of comprehensive biosecurity measures."

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Kennedy has Big Pharma ads in his sights — and he's not the only one mulling a crackdown

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. noted in an op-ed last year that one of the ways President Donald Trump can make America healthy again is by reviewing direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ad guidelines.

"The U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to the public," wrote Kennedy. "News channels are filled with drug commercials, and reasonable viewers may question whether their dependence on these ads influences their coverage of health issues."

The administration is now poised to tackle this issue with policies that might make it costlier and/or more difficult for pharmaceutical giants to push their products directly to patients.

Health and Human Services press secretary Emily Hilliard told Blaze News that "Secretary Kennedy has consistently emphasized direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising must prioritize accuracy, patient safety, and the public interest — not profit margins."

"Consistent with Secretary Kennedy's public health commitments, we are exploring ways to restore more rigorous oversight and improve the quality of information presented to American consumers, who deserve nothing less than radical transparency," added Hilliard.

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Bloomberg reported that the administration is considering two policies in particular.

The first would require drugmakers to to be more forthright in their ads about the side effects of their products.

Given that pharma products often have myriad side effects, this would likely increase the run time of TV ads, thereby making them far more costly. Since a total ban on pharma direct-to-customer ads would expose the administration to litigation, this potential disincentive could have a similar effect without the consequence.

Individuals said to be familiar with the plans told Bloomberg that the second policy would entail denying pharmaceutical companies the ability to write off DTC advertising as a business expense for tax purposes.

Recent analysis from the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing indicated that the average annual global spending on advertising and promotions in 2023 among the drugmakers AbbVie, Amgen, Biogen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Pfizer was $1.4 billion, with Pfizer spending the most.

The advertising data firm MediaRadar reportedly found that companies spent $10.8 billion last year on direct-to-consumer pharma advertising.

Drugmakers spent a combined $729.4 million to run TV commercials for the top 10 brands in just the first three months of 2025, reported Fierce Pharma.

'The American people don’t want to see misleading and deceptive prescription drug ads on television.'

Bloomberg suggested that these potential policies could impact a key source of revenue for advertising, media, and pharmaceutical companies.

AbbVie chief commercial officer Jeff Stewart reportedly told analysts in May that if there were a crackdown on pharma ads, the company "would have to pivot," potentially focusing its advertising online rather than on mass media.

Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

Alex Siciliano, a spokesperson for the National Association of Broadcasters, told Bloomberg, "Restricting pharmaceutical ads would have serious consequences for stations, particularly those in smaller markets, and could raise First Amendment concerns."

Those concerned about HHS purging the airwaves of Big Pharma propaganda need not only fear initiatives from the Trump administration.

Independent Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Angus King (Maine) introduced legislation last week that would ban drugmakers from using direct-to-consumer advertising outright, not only on TV and radio, but on social media, digital platforms, and in print as well.

"The American people are sick and tired of greedy pharmaceutical companies spending billions of dollars on absurd TV commercials pushing their outrageously expensive prescription drugs," Sanders said in a statement.

"The American people don’t want to see misleading and deceptive prescription drug ads on television. They want us to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and ban these bogus ads."

An Axios-Ipsos poll conducted last year found that 59% of Americans support banning TV pharma ads.

Unlike the Trump administration's potential policies, the End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act might not survive a constitutional challenge, given that Congress is barred from making any law abridging the freedom of speech.

The independent lawmakers noted in their joint statement that HHS Secretary Kennedy is not the only relevant party who has expressed an interest in clearing the airwaves; the American Medical Association has similarly endorsed a ban.

"The widespread use of direct-to-consumer advertising by pharmaceutical companies drives up costs and doesn’t necessarily make patients healthier," said King.

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HHS scrapping COVID jab recommendations for pregnant moms and kids: Report

The Department of Health and Human Services is reportedly preparing to scrap its recommendation that pregnant women and kids get the COVID-19 vaccines. Individuals said to be familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal that the announcement is imminent and will coincide with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention kicking off a new vaccine approval framework.

While the relevant agencies apparently did not respond to the Journal's requests for comment, U.S. Food and Drug Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary provided a fairly strong indication this week that the change was coming.

Makary told Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk that he would "love to see the evidence to show that giving young, healthy children another COVID-19 shot — you know, a sixth COVID booster — would help them, but that evidence does not exist, and so we're not going to rubber-stamp things at the FDA."

"I don't think you're going to see a push at the CDC to be pushing COVID shots in young, healthy children," continued Makary, adding that he expected an announcement on that front in the coming weeks.

Sources told the Journal that it would only be a matter of days.

At the time of publication, the CDC was still recommending that everyone ages 6 months and older get a COVID-19 vaccine.

'Connected to serious adverse events, including myocarditis and pericarditis, failed pregnancies, and deaths.'

The agency states on its website that getting the shot is especially important for individuals who have survived this long without one, geriatrics, pregnant women, those planning to conceive, and breastfeeding mothers. The agency urges parents to get their children 6 months to 4 years of age loaded up with two doses of the Moderna vaccine or three doses of the Pfizer vaccine if they were starting fresh.

As of April 26, 14.4% of pregnant women had received a 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine and 13% of children 6 months to 17 years of age were up to date, CDC data shows.

EKIN KIZILKAYA/iStock/Getty Images Plus

The CDC stuck with its recommendations until now despite credible warnings from Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo and other experts; troubling scientific studies demonstrating the vaccines were not as safe and effective as advertised; glaring evidence that kids and teens were at low risk for COVID and could go without; and damning state-leveled allegations that one of the primary vaccine manufacturers sat on evidence that its COVID-19 vaccine "was connected to serious adverse events, including myocarditis and pericarditis, failed pregnancies, and deaths."

Just last month, a preprint study backed by the Florida Department of Health suggested that adults in the Sunshine State who received the Pfizer vaccine had "significantly higher risk of 12-month all-cause, cardiovascular, COVID-19, and non-COVID-19 mortality" than those who received the Moderna shot.

A study conducted by the Global COVID Vaccine Safety Project — a Global Vaccine Data Network initiative supported by both the CDC and the HHS — and published last year in the journal Vaccine detailed troubling links between the AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Pfizer vaccines and medical conditions such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, brain and spinal cord inflammation, Bell's palsy, and convulsions.

Another peer-reviewed study published last year in the pharmacotherapy journal Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety indicated that "COVID-19 vaccination is strongly associated with a serious adverse safety signal of myocarditis, particularly in children and young adults resulting in hospitalization and death."

"COVID-19 vaccines induce an uncontrolled expression of potentially lethal SARS-CoV-2 spike protein within human cells, have a close temporal relationship of events, and are internally and externally consistent with emerging sources of clinical and peer-reviewed data supporting the conclusion that COVID-19 vaccines are deterministic for myocarditis, including fatal cases," said the study.

'The current risks of serious adverse events or deaths outweigh the benefits.'

Texas cardiologist Peter McCullough, a leading critic of the vaccines, said in a statement Thursday, "Two presidents, three HHS Secretaries, three FDA Commissioners, and nearly five years into the disastrous COVID-19 vaccine debacle, women and children receive long overdue yet welcome news. After record vaccine injuries, disabilities, and death, America is wondering will any of these leaders be held accountable?"

Dropping the recommendations appears to be a half measure, given that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. previously fought to revoke authorization of COVID-19 vaccines altogether.

Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In a petition he filed with the FDA on May 16, 2021, Kennedy said the agency should revoke all emergency use authorizations and refrain from approving future EUAs for any COVID vaccine for all demographic groups "because the current risks of serious adverse events or deaths outweigh the benefits, and because existing, approved drugs provide highly effective prophylaxis and treatment against COVID, mooting the EUAs."

Kennedy noted further that the agency should specifically spare children and pregnant women from the novel vaccines.

Kennedy's warnings and requests evidently fell on deaf ears.

In its final weeks, the Biden HHS extended liability protection to COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers and administrators through Dec. 31, 2029, precluding vaccine recipients who reportedly end up injured or their surviving family members from holding those responsible to account. This was the latest of several such extensions.

The reports of the HHS dropping the vaccine recommendations and other moves made in recent months by the Trump administration have elements of the medical establishment clutching pearls.

Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told the New York Times, "I think that we are in the midst of watching the vaccine infrastructure being torn down bit by bit."

"I think everything is a target," said Tara Smith, an epidemiologist at Kent State University College of Public Health.

"Overturning the recommendation means that insurance companies will no longer have to cover these vaccines," Dorit Reiss, a law professor at UC Law San Francisco, complained to the health publication Stat.

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