Americans usually have no reason to think about fluoride in their water, but this isn’t a typical week. Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is being eyed by Donald Trump as health czar, has vowed to remove the mineral from drinking water if appointed to the next administration. Kennedy said the chemical lowers children’s IQ, even though research shows it is largely safe. Embers evidentI totally agreeIn his victory speech on Wednesday, he told Kennedy to “have a good time” working on public health.

The prospect of giving Kennedy any power over the nation’s health is alarming, and not just because of his preoccupation with fluoride. (To be fair, many scientists have made serious and nuanced explanations. questions (About fluoride.) Kennedy, an environmental lawyer with no background in health, is best known for his work. skepticism, if not open hostility, towards vaccines. It also has a long history of advocating other pseudoscientific and conspiratorial views, such as the unfounded belief that antidepressants are responsible for mass shootings.

When I looked at the entire “Make America Healthy Again” platform, I expected to see strange conspiracies. Instead, their goals could be drawn from any liberal public health campaign. MAHA’s key goals include addressing the root causes of chronic diseases, improving the food supply through regenerative agriculture, protecting natural habitats, eliminating the corporate influence of government health agencies, and removing toxins from the environment. The campaign recognizes the need for systemic interventions such as increasing access to nutritious foods and prioritizing preventive health care, initiatives touted by Democrats like Michelle Obama.

MAHA represents a mix of concerns across the political spectrum. “The issues he raised on health and food are more prominently behind us,” said Rachel Meade, a political scientist at Boston University who studies Kennedy’s politics. Blaming corporations for our health problems is also a move that goes against the left’s playbook, Meade said. Indeed, Bernie Sanders spent the last year railing against the manufacturer of Ozempic for making the drug so expensive. Considered solely in terms of its goals and not its solutions, MAHA makes a lot of sense. That’s what makes it dangerous.

Everyone can agree that “removing toxins from the environment,” one of MAHA’s stated goals, is a good idea. But not everyone agrees on what the toxin is. From Kennedy’s perspective, fluoride is one of them. MAHA rightly points out that America’s “malnutrition” needs to be addressed. So what counts as a good diet? According to Kennedy, this may include: raw milkThis poses serious health risks. Addressing the issue of “inadequate healthcare” is, of course, crucial; but for Kennedy, that may require treating COVID with ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, alternative medications that have not been proven to work.

RFK Jr.’s goals aren’t the only part of his platform that could appeal to more than conspiracy-minded Trump supporters. His general diagnosis of the nation’s health problems is that Americans are misled by bad science and the institutions that support it. “Americans will be much healthier when they have good science and are allowed to make their own choices,” he said in an interview with NBC on Wednesday. The idea that people should do their own research and take their health into their own hands is widely resonated. The belief that scientific institutions do not work spans the political spectrumIt brings together subcultures, including anti-vaxxers, seed oil truth advocates, carnivore diet enthusiasts, and wellness influencers.

Kennedy himself is politically slippery. He was a Democrat until 2023, when he left and supported Trump after campaigning for president as an independent. Their anti-vaccine beliefs have historically been associated with hard-line liberals, and their environmental views align with the left. But he also fits in easily with Republicans. Many on the right have adopted anti-vaccine views during Covid. More importantly, his anti-establishment stance on healthcare fits neatly into Trump’s us-versus-them rhetoric. Like Trump, Kennedy sees himself as a populist; It frames public health problems in terms of corrupt institutions that deceive ordinary people, regardless of party. The bipartisan alliance around opposition to mainstream public health has created a strange new faction that counts Kennedy among its figureheads. As my colleague Elaine Godfrey says, one way to think about it is wrote“woo-woo meets MAGA.”

MAHA appeals to this group and perhaps can expand it. “Anti-establishment populism, which has both left and right aspects, is a prominent narrative in alternative media spaces,” Meade said. Kennedy’s health skepticism resonates with followers of influencers like Russell Brand and Joe Rogan, who frequently entertain health-related conspiracies; Kennedy himself appeared on their program. Like Kennedy, most of them are disaffected former Democrats whose policies can be difficult to pin down: While Rogan supports Trump, he describes himself as “a”bleeding heart liberal.”

It’s still possible that Kennedy won’t get a major job in the Trump administration. His wariness of corporations does not match Trump’s embrace of them, and Trump has already made clear that environmental concerns will not be a priority: “Bobby, stay away from liquid gold,” he said in his victory speech, referencing the words. oil. Kennedy’s history of strange behavior (including dumping a bear corpse in Central Park) may give some in Trump’s inner circle pause.

Even if Kennedy never joins the Trump administration, his ideas will continue to attract widespread attention. America has seen what happens when people lose trust in public health institutions. Epidemics continue because people are afraid to get vaccinated. Measles outbreaks are returning to schools. People drinking bleach. And maybe soon Americans will no longer drink fluoridated water.