Checking In: The Wellness to MAHA Pipeline

I'm surprised you're surprised your favorite wellness influencer is MAGA.

Photo by Kaylee Garrett on Unsplash

Remember when we asked everyone what their Roman Empire was? At the time, I couldn’t think of anything I think about that often. Now, the wellness to MAHA/MAGA pipeline is something that goes through my head every single day. Because with Trump winning and RFK Jr. confirmed as his health secretary, the Make America Healthy Again movement is loud and proud. They’re not hiding their anti-science views and their conspiracy theories. They’re emboldened. It’s something I want to get into here so I’ll be “checking in” as things progress.

What I know is it starts innocently enough. Who doesn’t want to know the food they’re eating is safe? But like many things in life, it can get out of hand. First, your doctor says to take a simple vitamin D supplement. Then, you’re searching for information about vitamin D deficiency and come across “studies” that “prove” we all need more sun without chemical or mineral sunscreen. Then, you watch a wellness influencer’s video about how she makes her own “sunscreen” at home and she’s never felt better. Her vitamin D levels are up! She has energy and she’s happy! Sure, she’s at increased risk for skin cancer but she doesn’t say that. You decide to start making “sunscreen” at home. And the MAHA ball starts rolling. Next, Trump “has a point.”

It seems farfetched, probably because it’s very unlikely to happen to you or me, but it’s easy to see how it’s possible to go from caring about wellness to not vaccinating your children (the opposite of wellness).

Mother Jones

Living in Los Angeles, you have to be on guard all the time. You see seemingly innocent people slip into dark spaces. Everyone loves an Erewhon run (the hot bar gets me every time) but what happens when that friend from Pilates is slipping raw milk into her latte? It might seen like NBD (hey, you aren’t drinking it) but if often leads to things like skipping vaccines, fatphobia, antisemitism, and voting for a convicted felon.

I started thinking about MAGA dog whistles during the height of Covid-19. I had to unfollow fashion influencers I previously enjoyed because of their “think critically” language (a red flag) encouraging their followers to “do their own research.” When we were vaccinated and things started to open up, I met a popular influencer on a press trip. We discussed her move from Los Angeles to Texas. She told me she moved her family there because “California is going to hell” with “all the insane mandates ruining the city.” 🚩🚩🚩

For the most part, I don’t smile and nod like some people do. I can’t. Things have gone too far. Measles cases are rising in the U.S. and kids are going to die. NIH research grants are frozen, which means a halt on finding a cure for cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Say goodbye to clinical trials that save lives when people have nothing left to try. I’m not interested in playing nice with people whose actions have caused this.

So, today I’m thinking about the current dog whistles that alert us to someone’s shitty political beliefs. This week, a popular influencer has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. I won’t say her name here but it’s not that hard to figure out. She used to be a fashion follow but after having kids, and putting them all over her social media to make money, she’s gone down the alt-right pipeline quickly. She just moved to Tennessee, leaving her 18-year-old daughter in Los Angeles alone to finish out high school.

Fans were quick to call her out for leaving her teenager alone, but the accusations didn’t stop there. Many pointed out that she probably left California because of the recent changes to the law. As of January 1, 2025, content creators who feature minors in at least 30 percent of their content have to deposit 65 percent of the minor’s gross earnings into a trust account for when they reach adulthood. Child influencers are also now included within the definition of “child performers” who receive earnings protections under California’s Coogan Law. This is a good thing! It protects children! But of course, if you’re exploiting your kids, you’re going to want to leave the state so you can pocket all the money.

But should this influencer’s fans have known she was problematic way before this? Probably. I unfollowed her when she took her baby to the chiropractor. (!!!) She had also recently spoken about her “mold exposure” — with a diagnosis from a holistic practitioner, of course. Can mold be a real problem? Of course. But does it cause you to flee an entire state? Not usually. TikToker Dietcokediaries, above, notes how “mold exposure” is another one of those MAHA god whistles — and she’s right. There are some other new ones making the rounds. Let’s take a look at the comments on her video.

Gut health, cortisol face, and seed oils are 🚩🚩🚩. As are anything to do with "toxins.” And definitely, 100 percent of the time, “medical freedom.” Isn’t it funny they scream about medical freedom but want to keep transgender people from gender-affirming care? It’s only freedom for some people, I guess.

Over on Reddit, fans are confused about how quick this influencer was to change.

I see it this scary trajectory with some so-called “clean beauty” founders, too. (More on that later!) Like many dangerous conspiracies, it starts off with a real concern and spirals into something harmful. Of course, not all wellness is bad and not everyone who is a bit woo-woo is a Trump-supporting, anti-trans bigot. It’s sad but these days, you have to check and make sure someone is the witchy, crystal-loving, zodiac-believing, love-your-neighbor, type of woo-woo, vs. the anti-vax, anti-science, anti-immigrant version. To be continued.