The MAHA movement is mad about glyphosate and Trump's EPA

Health The MAHA movement is mad about glyphosate and Trump's EPA April 28, 20266:00 AM ET By Will Stone Trump administration's rollback of regulations frustrates some in MAHA movement Listen · 4:33 4:33 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5801645/nx-s1-9738049" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Hanna Barczyk for NPR In a sign of the simmering discontent within the Make America Healthy Again coalition, some of its most visible figures rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, lobbing criticism at the Trump administration for siding with a pesticide-maker. Inside, the justices were hearing arguments in a highly-anticipated case involving the glyphosate-based herbicide, Roundup. "You cannot claim to care about health while protecting poison. You cannot tell Americans to eat real food while protecting the cancer-causing chemicals sprayed on it," wellness influencer and "MAHA mom" Vani Hari, who goes by the "Food Babe," told the assembled crowd at the "People Versus Poison" rally. Sponsor Message Many of those who spoke were longtime allies of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who brought his supporters into the MAGA fold when he endorsed Trump. Law Supreme Court heard case on how to label risks of popular weed killer The case in front of the court centers on whether Bayer, the German company that now owns Monsanto, can be shielded from lawsuits that have been filed in state courts over claims that the company failed to warn consumers about the cancer-causing effects of glyphosate. The Trump administration's decision to back the pesticide maker in the case, coming on the heels of an executive order supporting the expansion of domestic production of glyphosate, has angered the MAHA movement. MAHA mom Vana Hari speaks at The People vs. the Poison protest at the US Supreme Court on Monday in Washington, D.C. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images A decade ago, the World Health Organization concluded that glyphosate — the most widely-used weedkiller in the world — is "probably carcinogenic," though the Environmental Protection Agency did not agree with that finding. Just last month, leading scientists in the field of environmental health issued a consensus statement, saying that glyphosate can cause cancer and called for urgent action. Bayer disputes this. Glyphosate is one of the animating concerns for the coalition, but the rift underscores a broader tension — what MAHA advocates described as a "profound contradiction" in a recent letter to EPA administrator Lee Zeldin. Climate Trump's EPA issues record low legal actions against polluters, watchdog group finds While the Trump administration "claims to prioritize health," it "continues to approve, expand, and normalize chemical exposures that directly undermine that goal," the letter states. David Murphy, a former finance director for Kennedy's presidential campaign, was among those who signed the dispatch to Zeldin. In an interview with NPR, he said they had believed "this type of stuff wouldn't happen," given Trump's very public support for Kennedy who, as an environmental lawyer, brought lawsuits against Monsanto over glyphosate. "It's really pretty appalling that they've gone down this road," says Murphy, co-founder of United We Eat, which advocates for regenerative agricultural practices.…

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