← Bulwark Takes
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- [00:00]
A
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another edition of False Flag. It is me, Sonny Bunch. I am here with Will Sommer, the author of the newsletter which everybody should be reading. Go to thebullwerk.com Sign up for Bulwark + Sign up for False Flag. You're want to read this one today because it's a fun one. RFK Jr. Is a known gadget man. He loves his gadgets. You see him all the time on Twitter and the such hawking different things that he is selling. But. But he's on a new war path, Will. What are the gadgets he's after now?
- [00:33]
B
Yeah, so these are wearables. And so this is kind of the broadly defined, like fitness wearables, whether it's Fitbits or Apple watches, all the way to glucose monitors that are more attached to the body. And this is an interesting one because it's provoked a real backlash from the sort of Make America Healthy Again base that he represents. Earlier this week, he appeared at a congressional hearing. He was talking about how he's going to unleash at hhs, one of the biggest ad campaigns ever to make people think wearables are cool. And that's exactly what the contract language says, to make wearables cool. And you might say it's a little weird. Why is the government so focused on this? But he imagines basically that it'll make people skinnier because particularly if you have the glucose monitor, if you eat a sandwich and your glucose spikes, you say, oh, my gosh, I got to stop eating all these carbs or something. Which, you know, whatever, I guess, was my initial reaction. But it set off a huge amount of outrage from, from his supporters.
- [01:30]
A
Let's, you know, give them some credit here because I do think that, like, this is, this is a moment of consistency on their part. They don't want the government tracking their behavior. They don't want the government to know where they are. They don't want government to know what they're eating. And this is one of these, like, kind of shocker. Kennedy has a big government idea that they're like, whoa, whoa, we didn't sign up for this. We just want you to tell us that it's okay to let our kids get measles.
- [02:01]
B
Yeah, I mean, this is interesting, I should say. His specific quote was he said something along the lines of, by the end of this administration, the end of this four years, I want every American wearing a wearable, which is, you know, pretty extreme. And so that alarmed a lot of people. And as you said, I Think they do have a point here. And, you know, I think you can imagine if a Democrat had gotten up and said, I want every American wearing a GPS fitted wristband that's going to track their movements and all their personal health data. You say, oh my gosh, you know, this is Stalin. And yet this is something that I think the Trump administration is fine promoting, apparently. And so their reaction ranges from, you know, the crazy. You know, there are some infowars guests who are saying that this is the mark of the beast, you know, although certainly I think if a Democrat proposed it, a lot more people would be saying that, all the way to saying, you know, what is this about my data privacy? Why is it the government's job to be promoting this? It'd be like if there was a government ad campaign that we all need to get smartphones or something. And then, you know, they're also, they're saying, you know, well, what are the radio frequencies? This is kind of a more Maha type thing. What kind of energy is being emitted from this technology? Which, you know, I don't think is really proven, but certainly if you operate in RFK world, that's not really an issue for him typically. So it made me curious. There was a big backlash from some big Maha names who were saying, you know, what is going on here? And so it made me curious what was going on here.
- [03:24]
A
What's interesting is the idea that they're gonna spend, what was it, 20 million? 10 to $20 million.
- [03:28]
B
10 to $20 million. Yeah, yeah.
- [03:30]
A
Of government money to make wearables. Cool. Which if I am sitting in the Cupertino offices of Apple and I'm looking at my Apple watch, I'm thinking, this is the worst idea I've ever heard. Because, you know who's good at making things look cool is Apple. Apple's very good at making things look cool. And the idea that they are now going to be kind of tarred with this RFK Jr. Brush of craziness has to be a little bit concerning to them.
- [03:57]
B
Finally, the nation's arbiter of cool, the Health and Human Services Secretary, will step in. On the other hand, some people connected to RFK maybe could use the marketing boost. And I'm talking specifically about the brother and sister duo of Casey and Cali Means. So Casey means. And I tend to mix them up. Casey Means is the brother and he's a close RFK advisor. He's been called his right hand man. Vanity Fair had a great profile that really kind of demolished his backstory, as you know, he claimed to be a soda lobbyist who kind of saw the light and came to love wellness. But basically he has a company that their deal is they help you use your health savings accounts to buy gadgets, like wearables, like health gadgets. And so you can essentially get a doctor's approval or something to buy a peloton. And so he would, I would say, benefit from an increase in public, the public profile of health wearables. And then in the case of Callie Means, who is Trump's Surgeon general nominee and is already kind of widely reviled by the Maha base because they don't see her as like anti vaccine enough. She co founded a company that has an app that is very focused on, like health data. And one of the things they offer for a mere $200 a month is that if you get a glucose monitor, it will monitor your glucose. And that struck me as interesting because in this testimony, RFK doesn't say you should all get a Fitbit. I want everyone hitting 10,000 steps a week or get a garment and go on a run, he says, specifically talking about glucose monitoring. And so that makes me think that this is really aimed at promoting the kind of device that links up with Cali Means company.
- [05:39]
A
Yeah, that jumps out at me too. The price tag on this thing, $200 a month. Who's gonna be paying for this? They wanna get the customer, they want the tax subsidizing this to the tune of $200 a month. Or they want people to buy these things and then pay the $200 a month out of pocket. Like, what's the, what's the goal here?
- [05:57]
B
You know, it's a good question. I mean, I don't know how much insurance interacts with it. Certainly the Means family is very interested in health savings accounts as well. But, you know, it's just kind of crazy to me that like this wearables thing is so linked up with rfk and then he's unveiling what he's describing as like the biggest HHS ad campaign ever to promote this product or this range of products linked to their business. It'd be kind of like if Trump was like, you know, we're have this tourism campaign about how great Palm beach is, you know, or, I mean, there's this. There's really obvious business connection. And that hasn't been lost on the sort of the Maha movement who are saying, you know, it seems like RFK is just really into this one family's business and now he's using it to promote it. And the other thing I would say about this ad campaign is that the turnaround time for the contracting is really short. Stat News reported on it. It was like two weeks or something, which is really quick for a government contract. So it makes you wonder if they were just like, oh my gosh, we did an ad campaign and just get it out there.
- [06:53]
A
Yeah. So the influencers are outraged by this, which is kind of interesting. Cause that is his base in a real way. I mean, his base is that like kind of nut job. Right. That is very into some of the weird health stuff. If he loses them, does he risk losing his kind of nexus of power?
- [07:14]
B
Yeah, I mean, I think this is like a real issue for them. I mean, on one hand, he is also very much on the warpath against vaccines, which they like, unfortunately. But, but I do think this kind, this is like something that resonates the idea that the government is promoting, like in the least invasive way, that we all wear technological wristbands that track our, our location and, and you know, all the way up to the glucose monitor, which I think is more invasive. That is, I, I think something that could have staying power if he sticks with it. You know, just today I was seeing, you know, the medical shackles or, you know, there's also this idea that can the government say, well, insurance companies are incentivized to make you get these, or maybe you'll get a discount on your insurance, stuff like that. So there's a lot of concerns about it. And I could see this sticking around as an issue for him.
- [08:02]
A
Yeah, no, I mean, look, it's one thing to be like, ah, people should wear a Fitbit and monitor their walking. The idea of, again, the idea of some sort of massive government program to get everybody to keep an eye on their blood sugar levels. It's just weird, man. There's like, I don't, I don't understand who is falling for this or who thinks it's a good idea.
- [08:25]
B
The other thing I would say is, you know, you might say like, this is like Big Brother stuff. Everyone's being so paranoid. Who cares if RFK Jr might have access to your data? But this is a guy who literally said, you know, for people with health issues, maybe if you're overweight, you have adhd, you have a drug addiction, we should just send them to these camps and you know, these government run wellness camps until they're better. And you know, that sounds pretty ominous. And so maybe uniquely among previous HHS secretaries, this is a guy who, it doesn't seem like it's that big a leap to say this guy has like really invasive goals for American's health in terms of like, mass data.
- [08:59]
A
The vision of sending everybody off to a heavyweight style. Anybody remember the movie?
- [09:04]
B
I wish. Oh, a classic.
- [09:06]
A
Ben Stiller as the evil camp counselor. Great, great movie. Played on a loop in hbo. On HBO when I was a kid. The idea of sending everybody off to a heavyweight style, you know, kind of fat camp basically, for failing to live up to the RFK specification of healthiness is insane, obviously, and frankly unlikely to happen. Even if RFK wanted to do it, there's no way he could. But the simple fact that he has amassed such a base of following from people who would otherwise, you know, kind of go insane if anybody else suggested it strikes me as really troubling. I don't like. I don't like it one bit.
- [09:44]
B
Yeah, I think we might be able to have a little coalition here with the Maha gang because, you know, I think they have the intensity, the fanaticism, and then just, you know, we're more, I think normal people and just say, it's just a little odd to me, you know, that why is he. Why is RFK so into this? But he's very into it. So I don't know, maybe he's gonna be one of those guys with kind of like the multiple bands and get the sleep ring and just all the gear.
- [10:08]
A
Yeah, I'm not looking forward to that. One quick thing you also mentioned in your newsletter, little Tiffany, between the Liver King and Joe Rogan. Now, does the Liver King fall into the Maha type movement? I mean, he seems, at the very least, Maha adjacent with his bizarre raw liver diet that has aged him hundreds of years in the course of about five. He looks terrible, but he is on the warpath against Joe Rogan. What's going on there?
- [10:39]
B
Yeah, so brief introduction to the Liver King. I mean, this is a guy who looks sort of like a caveman, if a caveman had a gym and steroids. And he was a big thing a few years ago because he looked so ripped. And he said, I don't use steroids and. But I get so ripped because I eat such weird meats, including livers. I eat like gallbladders, who knows? And he looks incredibly red as well. And so then it came out that he was using steroids very predictably. And then he's kind of been spinning out ever since. And so earlier this week, Liver King, I think he detached his retina. I was watching some of his more recent videos. He's like the Retina is not doing good. And he went to Austin and he was posting these videos like, I want to brawl with Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan. You know, some are calling him a wimp for not accepting the challenge on the right, but. But basically someone got the police to arrest Liver King for making threats. And so in terms of where he fits in, I. Yeah, I mean, he fits into kind of this broader, like, holistic. Like, we need to, like, go back to the land. We need to, like, rediscover the old ways. You know, he. In a way, his downfall was kind of like before Maha really took off, because his downfall was in 2022. But I do think he certainly fits into that world, you know, and to that point, I really loved. In the newsletter, I mentioned that the news of Liver King's arrest was delivered by Alex Jones, who really sort of sits at that. The confluence of, like, Austin culture and, like, lunacy and hucksterism. And he said, you know, the police are en route to arrest the Liver King. He looks extremely deranged, you know, and so that's your Liver King update. But it really is. It's certainly a weird world, this Maha community. And a lot of money is to be made as well.
- [12:15]
A
Does the Liver King have a wearable? Do we know if he is rocking a glucose monitor or a Fitbit or an apple watch?
- [12:24]
B
It's a big old liver. It's a liver. You slap it on, you know, and maybe you get some osmosis, you know. The one other thing I should mention here about the Liver King, as long as we have this kind of like, Maha themed episode, is that he. He did ayahuasca. And a lot of people, there's a growing belief on the right that ayahuasca, obviously a very intense hallucinogen, that it will one shot you. So it will drive you mad.
- [12:46]
A
Yes, he got one shot by the ayahuasca.
- [12:49]
B
By ayahuasca. And so a lot of people were saying, you know, Liver King got one shot by ayahuasca. So I think this is an interesting thread to this growing belief that basically ayahuasca perhaps opens a portal to another dimension. A demon comes in, maybe never leaves.
- [13:01]
A
Well, now you've got your next newsletter because I want to know if the demon can get into the wearable. After doing ayahuasca, you've got like a little demon on your wrist telling you to eat the sandwiches. You know, that could be bad. You don't want. You don't want that. Oh, boy. All right, I gotta stop there. Otherwise I'm gonna get real silly. Will, thank you for discussing the Maha wearable movement. Make sure to like and subscribe this video. If you enjoyed it, send it to a friend. You know, everybody, everybody needs to know about the wearable menace that's, that's headed our way. And go sign up at the Bulwark, go to the bullwork.com, sign up for all the newsletters over there. You want this sort of thing in your news. I mean, maybe you don't want it, but you need it in your inbox a couple times a week. From Will. Thanks, Will.