Conspirituality Podcast Episode 298: MAHA’s Glyphosate Meltdown [feat. Mallory DeMille]

Date: March 5, 2026
Hosts: Derek Beres & Mallory DeMille

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the recent political and social turmoil triggered by Donald Trump’s executive order expanding domestic glyphosate production with legal immunity provisions, and the resulting rift within the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. The hosts, joined by returning guest Mallory DeMille, dissect the narrative shifts, influencer meltdowns, and opportunistic wellness grifting that ensued. They also scrutinize the scientific realities versus conspiratorial claims around glyphosate and reveal how wellness influencers pivot crises into detox product sales.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Context: The Glyphosate Executive Order and MAHA’s Civil War

• Trump’s Executive Order:
  • Signed Feb 18, 2026: “Promoting the National Defense by Ensuring an Adequate Supply of Elemental Phosphorus and Glyphosate-Based Herbicides”
  • Invokes the Defense Production Act of 1950, giving Bayer/Monsanto immunity from lawsuits related to production.
  • Framed as national security—glyphosate essential for U.S. agriculture and food supply.
• RFK Jr. & MAHA Involvement:
  • RFK Jr., previously outspoken against glyphosate, makes a public pivot to support the EO, angering MAHA followers.
  • "Maha activists immediately went into a frenzy, shocked that their tallow daddy… would betray them like this." (02:07, Derek)

2. Influencer Backlash and Social Media Meltdown

• Widespread Outrage:

  • Wellness and MAHA influencers who were once ardent supporters express public feelings of betrayal and fear.
  • Posts and comments filled with alarm about health, claims of mass poisoning, betrayal, and “feminizing our boys.”

• Notable Influencer Reactions:

  • Alex Clark (Culture Apothecary):
    • “It’s egregious enough to say glyphosate manufacturers should get immunity, but then to chalk it up as a great thing for national defense is so completely misguided…these are the chemicals that are literally feminizing our boys and mutilating their genitals.” (08:02, Mallory)
    • “I need time to process this betrayal.”
  • Vani Hari (The Food Babe):
    • “Please God, tell me this isn’t true. Did Trump give manufacturers of glyphosate immunity under Defense Production Act? I was on the phone with lawyers all night…” (09:04, Mallory)
    • “Bayer just got licensed to kill from our government.”
  • Zen Honeycutt (Moms Across America):
    • “I’m disgusted. Literally sick to my stomach… This executive order…is going to do far more than make people sick. It’s going to kill and sterilize countless American people.” (09:25, Derek)
  • Courtney Swan (Real Foodology):
    • “Spare me the I told you so’s, I’m not your enemy...Our enemy is Big Ag, who has their tent so deep in our government that it doesn’t matter what side is in there.” (12:06, Mallory)

• Comment Section Highlights:

  • “It’s almost as if Maga never cared about Maha and just said whatever would serve their interests at the time.” (09:49, Mallory)
  • “Everyone is so concerned with making fruit loops healthier and then this happens. Ugh.” (09:49, Mallory)

3. Attempts at Damage Control and Internal Spin

• Influencers Pivot to Pragmatism:
  • Some shift to rationalizing the EO based on economic or geopolitical grounds (e.g., Chris Wark: “If they banned glyphosate today…massive amounts of farmers would go out of business.” 16:24, Derek).
  • Dr. Jessica Pete Ross: “If glyphosate was banned from the food supply, it would crumble, store shelves would be empty and farmers would start killing themselves.” (19:34, Mallory)
  • Split emerges in the anti-vax/wellness influencer camp: outrage vs. rationalization.
• MAHA’s Official Response:
  • RFK Jr.'s delayed statement attempts to justify support as necessary for transition without destabilization but offers no concrete roadmap or sunset clause.
    • “I will always tell the American people the truth…Unfortunately, our agricultural system depends heavily on these chemicals…” (26:40, Mallory)
    • Data cited is outdated or misleading, as pointed out by Derek (27:08).
  • MAHA Action substack downplays the policy, urges “generational commitment,” and pushes back against the immunity-claims conspiracy:
    • “The MAHA agenda is bigger than any single policy action. It is a generational commitment to restoring the health of American families…” (31:01, Mallory)

4. The Grift: Turning Crisis into Detox Sales

• Influencer Playbook in Action:
  • Within hours, the “crisis” is leveraged for promoting detox products and supplements.
  • Raw of Earth:
    • “This is why I’ve been working with the solution to get glyphosate out of the body for seven or eight years...Comment the word toxin below and I’ll send you some information on the solution that we have to remove glyphosate.” (41:26, Raw of Earth; 41:55, Mallory)
    • Pushes “Biomedic” from MLM Purium, claims “the only proven solution” (44:16, Mallory)—despite evidence being from unregulated, company-sponsored, unpublished trials.
  • Other Influencers:
    • Misty (“detox coach and healer”) and MLMs like Touchstone Essentials, pushing “zeolite” detoxes for glyphosate and nearly every other ailment.
    • Companies like Rho Casa Organics repurpose the panic to market their “fruit and veggie wash.”
  • Mallory notes: “I’ve come to know these wellness influencers and their playbook pretty well. There’s just no way they’ll pass up an opportunity to shill a supplement.” (42:12)
  • Derek: “Just as they have to pin numerous problems on particular chemicals like glyphosate, they also have to pretend their products are good for everything so they can keep their sales funnel alive.” (47:55)

5. Scientific Reality Check on Glyphosate

• Nuanced Take:

  • Real science shows occupational exposure is very different from trace consumer levels.
  • Agricultural Health Study (over 50,000 subjects, rigorous method):
    • “No statistically significant association between glyphosate use and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma or any solid tumor.” (33:24, Derek)
  • Meta-analyses hotly contested: positive signals only in highest-exposure, high-bias groups; conflicting findings in population-level data.
  • Recent animal studies (2025 Global Glyphosate Study) raise concerns but are not directly applicable to human dietary exposure.
  • Supplement “detox” claims are not supported by any plausible mechanism; glyphosate is water-soluble, readily excreted, and does not bioaccumulate as claimed.

• RFK Jr. on Rogan (Timestamps ~36:55-38:06):

  • Claims “glyphosate is the foundational pesticide of our food production system.”
  • Derek responds: “Foundational implies the system was built around it from the start, which is not true. It’s dominant, not irreplaceable.” (38:06)

• Conclusion:

  • “Wellness influencers blaming numerous forms of cancer and gut problems on glyphosate is hyperbolic and unfounded…influencers love to find single issues that supposedly create numerous problems…and then they can sell you a bunch of shit.” (39:50, Derek)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Maha activists immediately went into a frenzy, shocked that their tallow daddy…would betray them like this.”
  — Derek Beres, 02:07

• “It’s egregious enough to say glyphosate manufacturers should get immunity, but then to chalk it up as a great thing for national defense…these are the chemicals that are literally feminizing our boys and mutilating their genitals.”
  — Alex Clark (read by Mallory), 08:02

• “Bayer just got licensed to kill from our government.”
  — Vani Hari, 09:04

• “It makes perfect sense when you realize Maha was never his goal. He only wanted the votes.”
  — Social media commenter, 09:49

• “If glyphosate was banned from the food supply, it would crumble, store shelves would be empty and farmers would start killing themselves.”
  — Dr. Jessica Pete Ross, 19:34

• “I’ve come to know these wellness influencers and their playbook pretty well. There’s just no way they’ll pass up an opportunity to shill a supplement.”
  — Mallory DeMille, 42:12

• “Urine? It does not bioaccumulate in the gut. The idea that a supplement could flush it is not supported by any possible mechanism with established evidence.”
  — Derek Beres, 45:23

• “Just as they have to pin numerous problems on particular chemicals like glyphosate, they also have to pretend their products are good for everything so they can keep their sales funnel alive.”
  — Derek Beres, 47:55

• “Maha has entered its identity crisis chapter, full of infighting, trust issues, and continued discount codes, and we’ll be here to cover it all.”
  — Derek Beres, 49:32

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 05:01–10:51: MAHA & wellness influencer backlash, key social media reactions
• 12:26–15:26: Internal influencer rationalizations, silver linings, and fighting Big Ag
• 16:24–19:41: Pragmatic, economic spins emerge (Chris Wark, Dr. Jessica Pete Ross)
• 22:24–23:39: RFK Jr.’s public silence, social media pressure, and mismanaged comms
• 24:06–31:13: MAHA and Kennedy’s coordinated spin, substack & policy double-speak
• 33:06–39:50: Glyphosate science reality check and debunking influencer claims
• 41:26–46:24: The glyphosate detox sales machine, MLMs, and “toxins” grifting
• 47:55–48:07: The multi-purpose supplement grift and product overpromising
• 49:13–end: Upcoming rallies, MAHA’s crisis, and the hosts’ final thoughts

Final Thoughts

• The episode unpacks how conspiracy-driven wellness movements fracture when confronted with realpolitik and policy pragmatism.
• It reveals the self-serving cycle between panic-driven social media activism and the wellness industry’s grift machine—“detox” products are pitched to soothe a wound the same influencers helped manufacture.
• The hosts debunk pseudoscience with patience, humor, and rigor—while highlighting the cognitive dissonance in movements that demand both deregulation and regulatory intervention for their own priorities.
• As MAHA enters “identity crisis mode,” the hosts foresee more influencer infighting and grifting—“and we’ll be here to cover it all.”