How MAGA Dudes Hijacked the MAHA Moms Movement

Deregulation, masculinity, lots of protein alienate MAHA's female grassroots base
Posted Sep 20, 2026 4:00 PM CDT
How MAGA Dudes Hijacked the MAHA Moms Movement
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Republican midterms convention on Sept. 10 in Dallas.   (AP photo/Alex Brandon)

Mike Tyson biting a carrot during the Super Bowl wasn't just a quirky ad—it was a signal that "Make America Healthy Again" has a new look, and it's decidedly more "bro" than "mom." Mother Jones tracks how MAHA, a movement sparked and sustained largely by women worried about food additives, pesticides, and chronic illness, has morphed into a male-dominated project tightly fused to Trump's MAGA politics. Health Secretary RFK Jr.'s flipped food pyramid, meat-heavy diet, and high-profile male appointees at HHS are paired with Title X family-planning shifts that emphasize testosterone, sperm counts, and porn avoidance over contraception. "Relatively little attention is given to helping women prevent unwanted pregnancy, the reason the Title X program was created in the first place," the outlet notes.

The article lays out the core tension: MAHA's base—wellness-focused, often apolitical women—wanted crackdowns on Big Food, Big Ag, as well as chemicals like glyphosate. Instead, they're watching men in suits champion protein, masculinity, and deregulation, while the administration takes on a "deeply, deeply devastating" role in a Roundup case and dismantles environmental protections. Prominent MAHA women now warn Republicans that they could lose the midterms—and 2028—if they walk. MAHA voters are "up for grabs, and [politicians] should be battling it out to see who can propose the best exit out of this toxic world that we're living in," says prominent MAHA leader Kelly Ryerson, who writes under the name "Glyphosate Girl." More here.

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