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<\/p>\nNeuralink. Google. Walmart. Wearables. CRISPR. For supporters of the \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d (MAHA) movement, these are the names of companies and technologies that represent a threat to Americans\u2019 health and bodily integrity.<\/p>\n
But at last week\u2019s\u00a0MAHA Summit<\/a>, these same entities and technologies took center stage.<\/p>\n The summit, held in Washington, D.C., brought together representatives of established and startup biomedical and biotechnology firms with key government officials \u2014 including U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. \u2014 and members of the MAHA grassroots movement.<\/p>\n STAT called it \u201ca strange mix of bedfellows<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The audience of \u201cTrump administration officials, biotech entrepreneurs, MAHA influencers and others included sessions about topics such as how artificial intelligence is being used in health care, reversing aging, making food healthier and more,\u201d\u00a0The Associated Press<\/a>\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n For some, the presence of\u00a0Big Tech<\/a>\u00a0firms, pharmaceutical companies and large retailers at a MAHA event represents a betrayal of MAHA\u2019s key principles, including its mission to combat the\u00a0chronic disease epidemic<\/a>\u00a0in the U.S. The list of attendees and sponsors evoked\u00a0criticism<\/a>\u00a0from some\u00a0MAHA supporters<\/a>.<\/p>\n But for Finn Kennedy, a board member of\u00a0MAHA Holdings<\/a>, which organized the summit in partnership with\u00a0MAHA Action<\/a>, the summit\u2019s goal was to \u201caccelerate private industry\u2019s adoption of the\u00a0MAHA agenda<\/a>\u00a0and turn that vision of a healthier, more prosperous America into reality.\u201d<\/p>\n RFK Jr.\u2019s son Finn opened the MAHA Summit by laying out the staggering rise of chronic disease affecting mothers and children in America.<\/p>\n \u201cChronic illness makes your dreams feel impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt separates you from your relationships and it mutes the colors of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2026\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/QNlz8ihv3A<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MAHA Action (@MAHA_Action)\u00a0November 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Writing for the MAHA Report, attorney and farmer\u00a0John Klar<\/a>\u00a0said the summit reflected \u201cthe extraordinary diversity of the growing MAHA movement.\u201d<\/p>\n Klar, who attended the summit, told\u00a0The Defender<\/a>\u00a0that the debate the summit sparked among MAHA\u2019s grassroots supporters is unsurprising. He said:<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems like everything MAHA does is controversial, and the summit was no exception. I am skeptical of Big Tech, but I also see the potential benefits of increased efficiency in healthcare, SNAP benefits and food distribution.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat excited me at the summit was seeing so many new faces involved in the movement, and the tent broadened to include multiple disciplines in medicine, government and tech. The priority remained preventive healthcare, focused on healthier diets. I found it hopeful.\u201d<\/p>\n Alex Hardy, CEO of MAHA Holdings, said in a statement that the summit \u201cproves how far and\u00a0fast the MAHA coalition has grown<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n RFK Jr.: \u2018Partnership with private industry\u2019 crucial for achieving MAHA goals<\/strong><\/p>\n The summit\u2019s headline event was a 15-minute discussion between\u00a0Kennedy and Vice President JD Vance<\/a>. Vance praised Kennedy\u2019s leadership of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the MAHA movement, saying that they have been \u201ca critical part of our success in Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf all the specific initiatives that you guys have worked on effectively, the most important thing is that your team is willing to ask questions that people in government haven\u2019t been asking in a long time,\u201d Vance said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to be asking more critical questions about what we\u2019re putting in the bodies of these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n JD Vance says people like RFK Jr. were the ones who were right about Covid.<\/p>\n Not the experts.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the criticisms that Bobby will always get and I always think is BS, is when people say, well, this or that conclusion is not supported by the science or this or that conclusion\u2026\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/CJ9n91FUYh<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Children\u2019s Health Defense (@ChildrensHD)\u00a0November 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what science is,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cIt\u2019s recognizing that convention is often wrong and that the people who make advances on science, almost 100% of the time, are people who are willing to challenge orthodoxies and advance heterodoxies and talk about new ways of thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n Kennedy said partnerships with industry are crucial for advancing MAHA\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n \u201cA critical part of us achieving that goal is the partnership with private industry \u2026 entrepreneurs, the innovators who are trying to do the same thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Other speakers at the summit included\u00a0Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D.<\/a>, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH);\u00a0Dr. Marty Makary<\/a>, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; author and \u201cFood Babe<\/a>\u201d Vani Hari; and key figures from\u00a0Regeneron<\/a>,\u00a0CRISPR Therapeutics<\/a>, Walmart, Google and\u00a0Neuralink<\/a>.<\/p>\n Critics: \u2018MAHA is not MAHA anymore\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n For Klar, the mix of speakers at the summit was cause for optimism about the momentum of the MAHA agenda.<\/p>\n Klar said he was pleased to see \u201cfederal agency heads excited about effecting real change in research, service delivery, prevention, food and patient focus\u201d and \u201cefforts to partner effectively with private industry for public good, instead of\u00a0regulatory capture<\/a>\u00a0serving corporate profits at the expense of citizens\u2019 health.\u201d<\/p>\n But for other MAHA supporters, the presence of executives from pharmaceutical and technology firms raised red flags.<\/p>\n In an interview last week,\u00a0Gray Delaney<\/a>, a former HHS employee who, in that role, acted as a liaison between the agency and MAHA movement supporters, said the summit is evidence that \u201cMAHA is not MAHA anymore.\u201d He said the summit consisted of \u201ca lot of industries, a lot about\u00a0wearables and devices<\/a>\u00a0and AI [artificial intelligence] and all that.\u201d<\/p>\n On Substack,\u00a0Dr. Meryl Nass<\/a>, founder of\u00a0Door to Freedom<\/a>, said she was \u201cskeptical\u201d of the discussions that took place at the summit. Noting the presence of \u201cmany tech bros\u201d at the summit, she said its technology-centric agenda was \u201cbusiness as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow will the NIH, for example, choose where to put its research dollars? Will the flashiest pitch win? \u2026 Where is the evidence that technology has improved lifespan (it hasn\u2019t) or quality of life (when economically we are in worse shape)?\u201d Nass asked.<\/p>\n \u201cTech and biotech have taken the wheel,\u201d wrote Helena Bottemiller Evich in an article for\u00a0FoodFix<\/a>. \u201cJust about every food advocate I talked to was struck by just how much the meeting was focused on tech and biotech solutions and startups.\u201d<\/p>\n Evich said there were \u201ca bunch of hot MAHA topics that were not addressed, including pesticides, soil health, infant formula, and even vaccines were left off the agenda,\u201d and that \u201cthere was surprisingly little focus on the food system.\u201d She said\u00a0policy<\/a>-related discussions took \u201ca back seat.\u201d<\/p>\n Sue Peters, Ph.D., a developmental neuroscientist and health freedom activist, praised the summit\u2019s \u201cwide net of inclusion\u201d but was critical that some topics were excluded from its agenda, including the \u201capparent lack of attention to the need for individual freedom, choice, and control over personal data, and access to clear air, water and food, given the foundation of MAHA comes from health freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n Peters said there was also a \u201clack of focus on root causes of disease\u201d and the \u201crole of the pandemic lockdowns,\u00a0COVID-19<\/a>\u00a0bioweapon and COVID-19 gene therapy on health in our country.\u201d Instead, the focus was \u201cplaced on innovative solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Evich, the exclusion of these topics has riled the ranks of MAHA supporters. \u201cThe comments about all of this on X are a wild ride, with many supporters wondering how Kennedy could go along with such a move,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n Critics also called out the potential financial incentives for participating corporations, including drugmakers. Evich cited a report by\u00a0The Wall Street Journal<\/a>\u00a0earlier this month that the summit\u2019s organizers sought between $250,000 and $1 million for sponsorships. The Defender was unable to independently confirm these figures by press time.<\/p>\n \u201cSome attendees privately wondered which companies had sponsored the conference and whether it had skewed the agenda,\u201d Evich wrote.<\/p>\n MAHA movement needs \u2018every conceivable voice at the table\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n In an interview on \u201cThe War Room<\/a>\u201d with Steve Bannon on Monday,\u00a0Tony Lyons<\/a>, president of\u00a0MAHA Action<\/a>, responded to the criticisms. He said hosting representatives from prominent pharmaceutical and tech firms isn\u2019t a failure, but a sign of the MAHA movement\u2019s success in the face of adversity.<\/p>\n Lyons told Bannon:<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re taking on some of the most powerful people on earth, and these are people who want to keep all of us sick. They make money by keeping us sick, and we want to help make people healthy.<\/p>\n \u201cTo get there, you need to have skepticism, you need to have curiosity, you need to question authority, and you\u2019re not going to be able to do that and really make progress unless you\u2019re willing to get every conceivable voice at the table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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