The Truth About Big Pharma and America's Health Decline | Brigid Rasmussen DSH #1288

Summary

Digital Social Hour: The Truth About Big Pharma and America's Health Decline | Brigid Rasmussen DSH #1288

Release Date: April 1, 2025

In this pivotal episode of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly engages in a profound and unfiltered dialogue with Brigid Rasmussen, COO of MAHA Alliance and MAHA Action. The conversation delves deep into the intertwined issues of Big Pharma’s influence, the decline of America's health, and the grassroots movement striving to reverse these trends. Below is a comprehensive summary capturing the essence of their discussion, enriched with notable quotes and timestamps for reference.

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1. Brigid Rasmussen's Role in the Movement

Brigid opens the conversation by detailing her journey with Bobby Kennedy’s presidential campaign and her subsequent leadership role within MAHA.

[00:43] Brigid Rasmussen (A): "I started working with Bobby in April of 2023 when he announced that he was running for president... Shortly after he announced his independent presidential run in Philadelphia, he asked me to be his chief of staff."

She emphasizes the rapid growth and dedication within the movement, highlighting the challenges faced by independent candidates in securing ballot access.

[01:49] A: "For independent candidates, you don't just automatically get on the ballot. You have to collect a certain amount of signatures in each state... it was an uphill battle."

2. Challenges of Independent Campaigns

Brigid discusses the myriad obstacles faced, including legal battles with the DNC and stringent state-specific requirements.

[01:51] A: "The DNC sued us, I want to say, a dozen or more times for things like starting to collect signatures before you have a vice president announced... It's crazy."

Despite these hurdles, the movement garnered substantial grassroots support, mobilizing over 100,000 active volunteers committed to the cause.

[02:59] A: "Our grassroots support was really the backbone of the movement... It was passionate and fiery like never seen before."

3. Health as a Central Unifying Issue

Health emerges as a unifying theme across political divides, attracting diverse supporters who are disillusioned with existing regulatory agencies.

[03:02] B: "It was the first movement I've seen in politics that incorporated health."

Brigid underscores the bipartisan nature of the movement, noting significant support from the MAGA crowd and beyond.

[03:07] A: "We're seeing this nonpartisan movement that’s incredibly unifying. Our health is at an all-time low and it's a threat to our national security."

4. The Prescription Drug Crisis and Big Pharma

A substantial portion of the discussion centers on the excessive reliance on prescription medications and the role of Big Pharma in perpetuating health issues.

[05:11] A: "We're poisoning our kids... and big corporations are profiting off our kids being sick."

Brigid criticizes the rampant prescription of drugs like SSRIs and ADHD medications, arguing that they create “forever customers” dependent on pharmaceutical solutions.

[06:06] A: "It's like, why is that the norm? Why are we putting kids on medications that they're going to be on forever?"

5. School Lunches and Food Legislation

The conversation shifts to the poor quality of school lunches and the legislative efforts to improve children's nutrition.

[07:17] B: "It's a huge problem with college athletes, too... Antidepressants, stimulants, you name it."

Brigid highlights ongoing legislative initiatives aimed at banning harmful additives in school lunches and ensuring healthier meal options for students.

[08:00] A: "There's a bill passing in New York requiring doctors to lay out the potentially harmful side effects of vaccines 48 hours before administration... There's a bill in Arizona to ban chemical additives from school lunch programs."

6. Transparency and MAHA Initiatives

Transparency in regulatory practices and corporate accountability are emphasized as crucial steps towards improving public health.

[10:44] A: "Healthy, organic, or, you know, heart healthy is another big one."

Brigid discusses MAHA's plans to develop a certification program to authenticate healthy products and provide consumers with reliable information.

[11:40] A: "We're talking about building a MAHA certification directory... defining what counts as MAHA certified and what doesn't."

7. Social Media Censorship and Grassroots Advocacy

The episode addresses the challenges of advocating for these issues on social media platforms, including censorship and shadow banning.

[27:39] A: "Every time somebody reposted this Bobby Kennedy documentary, it got taken down for violating community standards... Our ad account on Meta still gets taken down like every other week."

Brigid expresses frustration over the suppression of their messages, which hampers their ability to reach broader audiences.

[29:21] B: "But because people go to social media for information and when they can't find anything on someone or it's deemed as misinformation taken down, they're not getting the same... it's disruptive to an election."

8. Political Alliances and Campaign Strategies

Brigid elaborates on the strategic alliances formed with influential figures like Callie Means and Vanny Hari, bolstering the movement's reach and impact.

[16:41] A: "Callie and Vanny... have been so instrumental in bringing a whole new audience to MAHA and Bobby... they've brought a whole new wave of people into this and ultimately have made it more mainstream."

She recounts the collaborative efforts that led to significant legislative successes, such as the banning of certain food additives following a massive petition drive.

[19:25] A: "A bill ending up with like 300,000 signatures... Six weeks later, the FDA announces it's banning red food color additives."

9. The Mental Health Crisis

Mental health is highlighted as a critical issue, with over-prescription of psychiatric medications contributing to a national crisis.

[40:11] A: "40% of teenagers have a mental health diagnosis... Why are we putting kids in a box and then prescribing them something that externalizes their ability to self-regulate?"

Brigid advocates for holistic approaches to mental health, emphasizing nutrition, fitness, and community support over pharmaceutical interventions.

[41:27] A: "Rather than just telling people what not to eat, it's like giving them things that they can eat and can cook and are actually accessible... Empower people to restore ownership of their own health."

10. Upcoming Initiatives and Future Directions

As the episode nears its conclusion, Brigid outlines upcoming initiatives aimed at expanding MAHA’s influence and fostering community engagement.

[47:28] A: "We're building out this college program where different colleges will have their MAHA chapters and clubs... speaking at a lot of different events to expand our MAHA army."

She also touches on the importance of reaching underserved areas, such as rural regions and food deserts, to ensure comprehensive nationwide impact.

[18:29] B: "We have to reach those people too."

11. Conclusion

Sean and Brigid wrap up the episode by reinforcing the urgency of addressing America's health decline and the pivotal role of grassroots movements in instigating meaningful change. They advocate for transparency, education, and community empowerment as foundational elements in combating the pervasive influence of Big Pharma and improving public health.

[48:09] B: "Check her out, guys. Check out the MAHA movement. I'll see you next."

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This episode of Digital Social Hour offers a compelling exploration of the systemic issues plaguing America's health landscape. Through Brigid Rasmussen's insights, listeners gain a nuanced understanding of the challenges and strategies involved in mobilizing a movement against entrenched corporate interests and advocating for a healthier, more transparent society.

Notable Quotes:

• Brigid Rasmussen (A):

  • "[00:00]... why are we putting kids in a box and then prescribing them something that they're then learning to externalize their ability to self regulate and self soothe and be resilient."
  • "[06:37] It's a... huge turnoff for these people and they stop paying attention."
  • "[24:45] I always say if you can't pronounce it, it's probably not good."

• Sean Kelly (B):

  • "[19:56] Beautiful."
  • "[33:11] It was a logistical, I mean, production beast."

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For more information on the MAHA movement and upcoming initiatives, visit their website (links provided below).

Transcript

[A]

One, yes, mental health is at an all time low, but it's also just increase of diagnosing teenagers when they have depression or anxiety. It's like that's a, that's often a very situational thing. Why are we putting kids in a box and then prescribing them something that they're then learning to externalize their ability to self regulate and self soothe and be resilient.

[B]

Okay, guys, got Brigid here, COO of MAHA alliance and MAHA Action. A lot going on in your world. Thanks for coming on.

[A]

Oh, yeah, thank you so much for having me.

[B]

Yeah, I'm sure you're all over the place lately.

[A]

Yep. Exciting times. D.C. a lot. Austin, Texas, here in Vegas, Louisiana. All over the place.

[B]

Nice. How long you been with Bobby in the movement?

[A]

So I started working with Bobby in April of 2023 when he announced that he was running for president. And you know, it was a small group of us fair figuring out how to set up a campaign website, file paperwork with the fec, that kind of thing. And then his big announcement speech in Boston, which really is when things really took off. And then shortly after he announced his independent presidential run in Philadelphia, I believe October 2023, he asked me to be his chief of staff and sort of take more of a leadership role on his campaign. Um, which was incredible. So, yes, April 2023, started working with Bobby directly. Yeah.

[B]

You guys had an uphill battle from there.

[A]

Definitely. It was huge. And it was, it was more and more uphill the farther we got in terms of things like ballot access. You know, for independent candidates, you don't just automatically get on the ballot. You have to collect a certain amount of signatures in each state. It's a unique requirement in each state from, you know, how big the paper size of the petition has to be to the color ink that's used.

[B]

Wow. The color of the ink mountain.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. And they, the DNC sued us, I want to say, a dozen or more times for things like the starting collecting signatures before you have a vice president announced or where, you know, districts for collecting signatures, zip codes, you know, you have to. In New York, for example, you have to have a certain amount on each borough. It's crazy. So, you know, it was, it was an uphill battle, but it was also such an incredible one. You know, our grassroots support was really the backbone of the movement. By the end of the campaign, we had 100,000 plus active volunteers. Wow. Out in crazy weather conditions, collecting signatures, tabling at parades. I was driving through the middle of nowhere, Colorado once on a Saturday afternoon. And there was these, this group of maybe a dozen volunteers holding a banner over a freeway that said RFK for President. So you, you know, while we had those hurdles of being an independent campaign, we had this passion and fiery movement like never seen before. And that same movement is now, you know, getting behind MAHA related legislation and helping us on the ground.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Continue to get the word out and grow.

[B]

So, yeah, it was a revolutionary movement. It was the first movement I've seen in politics that incorporated health.

[A]

Yeah, definitely. I think it was. And it's incredibly unifying. You know, you see Bobby supporters, many apolitical, not engaged in politics, people who have felt lied to by our regulatory agencies time and time again, you see them start to pay attention. And then you see that group of people aligned now with maga. And we've been going to these Republican conventions all over the country, and the MAGA crowd is so excited about maha. I mean, it's a new, it's a new arm of maga, but it's also, you know, a nonpartisan movement that, that we've seen be incredibly unifying. And it's what's necessary. You know, it's not one side or the other. It's just what we need to do. Our health is at an all time low and, you know, it's a threat to our national security. 77% of young people aren't eligible to join the military, you know, so that leaves 23% out of that. 23%. How many do you think actually want to join the military? It's a huge threat to our national security.

[B]

So, yeah, I'd be curious how the numbers are if they're dwindling the number of people in the military.

[A]

Right. I mean, I think that they are and I think that we're seeing, you know, rising rates of, of PTSD and veterans. And veteran health is a huge issue too. So we've been working with a couple of veteran health nonprofit organizations on some big, you know, MAHA veteran initiatives, both on the legislative side of things, you know, getting more coverage for veterans, but also things like the food that they're serving in the military. That's a huge problem.

[B]

Yeah, I bet. It's terrible food.

[A]

Yeah. So many preservatives and artificial dyes, chemicals, you know, we've just got to do better and we've got to help the people that are helping us or serving our country, you know, thrive. And we're not.

[B]

Not at all. I've had a lot of veterans on the show and they told me they can't even use peptides or trt. And as a fighter, you want high testosterone, you want to be healthy, and you can't even supplement with stuff like that.

[A]

Right. It's crazy. Yeah. And the forcing people in the military to get the vaccine over Covid and all of that. It's like, again, why are the people that are serving our country put last and not given choice and things like that? It's just crazy.

[B]

Yeah. The vaccine decision was. I feel like a lot of people quit because of that one.

[A]

Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I mean, it's like you choose between potentially harming your own body or serving your country. It's crazy. So I'm excited to see this now take a national stage. You know, people are starting to talk about these things. People are starting to talk about this big pharma forever customer model where we're poisoning our kids, and then. And then big pharma and big corporations are. Are profiting off our kids being sick and our adults being sick and our veterans being sick. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

The prescription model. Right. I think the average veterans on over five prescriptions, It's.

[A]

Yeah, something like that. It's crazy. You know, kids are being prescribed, SSRI is at a crazy rate to. Adults are on tons and tons of prescription medications. It's like, why is that the norm? You know, why is it that when a kid goes into their pediatrician for a checkup and they say, oh, I'm feeling kind of depressed, or, you know, the teacher says that they're, you know, off the walls, they can't focus. Why is the first thing to put somebody on Adderall or Lexapro or things like that that are just not safe for kids?

[B]

Right.

[A]

It's then, you know, there you have it. A forever customer.

[B]

When I was in college at Rutgers, Adderall was so easy to get.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, everyone in my hall had it.

[A]

It's easier to get than spinach. Yeah. I went to Pepperdine University, which is pretty conservative and a dry campus and all of that. And it was still, I mean, everywhere. It was everywhere. It's a big problem with college athletes, too. They're getting Adderall prescriptions, and then they're allowed to take Adderall to increase their performance. It's across the board, a huge issue. It's the accessibility of these things. Antidepressants, stimulants, you name it.

[B]

It's.

[A]

We've got to think about root causes and, you know, when a kid is having trouble in school, why not look at what they're eating or how much Exercise they're getting.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Why is it, okay, let's put them on an addictive pill that they're going to have to be on forever and has crazy side effects that probably more than we even realize.

[B]

Yep. Is Maha working on any legislator to fight against that?

[A]

Yeah. I think the biggest thing that we're focused on is transparency. And the biggest thing Bobby is focused on is transparency of our regulatory agencies and increasing regulations to increase informed choice. It's not taking away pharmaceutical companies, it's not even taking away vaccines or drugs or junk food. It's just giving people more research resources and educating them on what they're putting in their bodies, what they're putting in their kids bodies. So there's a bill right now that's passing through committees in New York that requires doctors to lay out the potentially harmful side effects of vaccines 48 hours before the vaccine's administered. Because what we see now is parents go into doctor's offices and it's not even a question of whether or not you get the vaccine or not. They're not even being presented the, you know, mile long packet of side effects of vaccines. So things like that that are like, you know, the vaccine is still available should you want to get it, but at least you have 48 hours to learn the risks. You know, there's also, we're actually tomorrow at the Capitol in Arizona, there's a bill that's being put through that would ban chemical additives from school lunch programs. In Arizona, you know, 30 to 100% effect of, sorry, 30 million kids are on or you know, have school lunches as 30 to 100% of their calories that they consume. So if we start with school lunches, you know what kids are eating when they're at school, which like I said, is a lot of what they're eating, especially in communities where that's the only resources they have is public school lunches. I think we're going to see a huge improvement in childhood health and childhood chronic disease because we can't have a strong nation when our kids are eating crap for lunch every day. When they're having lunchables and Gatorade and candy and sodas. It's.

[B]

Yeah, I still have nightmares about my school lunch.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, it was disgusting.

[A]

What was it?

[B]

It was like french fries, old pizza, salad that was probably like processed and I don't even know. It wasn't fresh salad, I could tell you that.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And the lowest qual quality meat, the lowest quality ingredients.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I grew up like meat. No, it doesn't look like me. And I grew up upper middle class too, so it's not like we didn't have the resources to afford a decent meal.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But it was still just subsidized by the state, I guess. And find the cheapest ingredients.

[A]

Yeah, it's crazy. And then they're mass producing, but then you go and visit schools and the trash can is just filled with food that kids don't want to eat. It's not even appetizing to them, you know, it's. Yeah, it's plastic. It looks and same. It's the same thing with hospitals. People come out of open heart surgery and they're giving Mountain Dew and these plastic looking pop Tart things.

[B]

Blows my mind.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

There's vending machines in hospitals, so the vending machines. Candy vending machines.

[A]

Right, right.

[B]

Like, how is that allowed?

[A]

I know. And it's like, you know, we need to. Something that we're focused on with Maha is rather than just telling people what not to eat, it's like giving them things that they can eat and can cook and are actually accessible. I think there's this issue where people. People get overwhelmed. They're pretty soon they're like, okay, well, what can I eat? You're telling me not to have seed oils, you know, vegetable canola oil. That's like in everything almost. You're telling me not to have food dyes. You're telling me not to have soda or McDonald's, but for a lot of people, that's all that they have. And then it kind of just is a. Is a huge turnoff for these people and they stop paying attention. And it's almost this elitist thing. So we need to, you know, rather than just taking away processed frozen meals, it's like, let's provide alternatives. They might not be perfect, but they're better, you know?

[B]

Yeah. So you could find the right things for the right price, you know?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I don't think you have to buy organic if you can't afford it.

[A]

Right, right. And that's the other. The organic label. You know that foreign companies are importing organic produce and they're essentially paying for the sticker, and it's not actually organic.

[B]

Oh, really?

[A]

There's no oversight.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

The same thing with supplements that are coming in from overseas. And what that's doing is one, poisoning us, and two, it's driving American small businesses, small farms, completely out of business because they're not able to mass produce at that rate.

[B]

Dang.

[A]

I didn't know that.

[B]

So the label doesn't mean what it used to.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, not always. I mean, I think there's organic farmers here that are incredible and are struggling because they don't have the subsidies that these massive, massive slaughterhouses, for example, and big farms have. So. Yeah, I think we need to put America first. We need to put American businesses first. We need to put American farms first. That's the only way we can make our economy healthy again, make our kids healthy again. I mean, it's. Why are we prioritizing these foreign companies over our own companies and ultimately foreign people over our own people?

[B]

Have you seen the farmland? China buying up the farmland?

[A]

Yeah. Yes. It's crazy.

[B]

Yeah, that's concerning.

[A]

It's so concerning. Yeah. And then. Yeah, again, they're not prioritizing the health of the American consumer the same way that a small farmer would.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, last thing I heard was they own the second most farmland in America.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

China.

[A]

Yeah. I believe that's.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

It's crazy.

[B]

And Bill Gates is first.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And who knows what he's up to?

[A]

I know. That's a whole problem in itself. Yeah. So, yeah, I think ultimately we. We've got to think about our American kids and adults that are, you know, you hear all the time from Bobby and others, there's nothing more profitable than a sick child. Right. And we have to look at the source. We have to look at how food is grown. You know, this pesticide issue is huge right now. Iowa has one of the highest rates of cancer and also one of the highest rates of pesticide use on their crops. Every year. Six billion. Six billion pounds or something of glyphosate related, you know, pesticides. For example, glyphosate are sprayed on our. On our crops that end up being our produce that keeps kids and grownups are eating.

[B]

So there's a direct correlation. Yeah, that's concerning.

[A]

I believe there is. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

The pesticide stuff is nuts because they haven't found anything to combat that yet.

[A]

Right, exactly. And they're in Iowa right now. There's a bill that they're trying to push through that would grant immunity, legal immunity essentially, for pesticide companies, for.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah. And that's going on. They actually just passed this same bill in Georgia, so we're fighting that too.

[B]

Are they getting those through?

[A]

It's. They're essentially saying if they have, you know, one stamp of approval once, that that should be. They should have legal protection because they'll go bankrupt if they get sued, which is just insane. It's like, well, you should go bankrupt. Like, you should, you know, so people ask all the time. They're like, like, reporters will ask me what, you know, what do you have to say to big companies that are really worried about going out of business? And I'm like, they have nothing to worry about as long as they're not knowingly harming the American people.

[B]

That's the key word. Knowingly, right?

[A]

Yeah, knowingly. And yeah, they shouldn't have anything to worry about. Bobby is not going to make junk food illegal. You know, he's not going to wipe away pharma. You know, he hasn't yet. He's not going to. He's just going to ensure that people know what they're putting in their bodies and big companies aren't profiting off people being sicker and sicker.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Was the make people Healthy Again always the main selling point from the start or did that kind of come along later?

[A]

You know, it's, it's funny because I had never heard Make America Healthy Again. We, we played around with like, Make Earth Great again on the campaign, which people really liked.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But it wasn't until August 23, 2024. I'll never forget Bobby joined President Trump on stage in Phoenix and said, don't you want a president that's going to make America healthy again? And Bobby, by the end of the day, people were selling merch. People set up websites. Like, it really took off. And now I can't imagine Maha not being something that we say every day. It's so recognizable. You know, I wear my hats at the airport and things like that. And everybody's like, I love Maha, you know, from both sides of the aisle. We've been at Republican conventions, like I mentioned, we've been at, we were at Expo west in LA with a lot of kind of more liberal leaning people and companies, and everybody was coming up to us, wanting a hat, wanting to get involved, wanting to attach their brand to Maha in some way. You know, it's gotten a huge audience and it was one of those things that nobody could have, could have planned. Bobby just caught up and said it, which was incredible.

[B]

That's beautiful. You also got Callie Means and Vanny Hari just rocking with you guys.

[A]

Totally rocking. I mean, I think that they, they have been so instrumental of this, in this movement in, in so many ways for so many years, but they really brought a whole new audience to Maha and to Bobby and to President Trump too. You know, this people, you know, we call them the granola moms, but it's more than that. They're thinking about food and, and Callie and Vonnie and people like that are, they're very, they're very knowledgeable on food ingredients and what needs to change, legislation, all of that. They bring people in and then people start listening to Bobby or Dell Bigtree, our CEO, and pretty soon they're learning more and more about these, this sort of profit model that, you know, for pharma and vaccines and things like that. So I think it's brought a whole new wave of people into this and ultimately has made it more mainstream.

[B]

I thought it was a brilliant marketing strategy partnering with those food influencers because they get a ton of views on social media.

[A]

Totally.

[B]

Like, I see them every day on my feed.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They're getting hundreds of millions of views. So that was. And a great community too.

[A]

Totally. A huge community and one that's so passionate. You know, they will put a set aside 40 hours a week to go stand on the side of the road with a sign that's, you know, did you know that X, Y and Z is in your kids lunches? It's. It's incredible.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

People are really starting to wake up and learn. And I think our next task is reaching people in rural areas and food deserts that, that aren't being heard and not being educated. And even if they are being educated, there's this whole like, well then what do I eat? Like I said, like, we have to give people alternatives. We have to empower people. We have to help people restore ownership of their own health.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

You know, there's some places where you go and it's, everybody just looks unhealthy. Everybody lives an unhealthy lifestyle. Like, there's no emphasis on nutrition or fitness.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

To really move the needle in the time that we have, we have to reach those people too.

[B]

Yeah. When I saw Callie and Vanny testifying at Congress, I was like, oh my gosh, times are changing. Like, these influencers really have a voice these days. I've never seen that before.

[A]

Right, right. Like, when did influencers go and, you know, do Senate hearings? Senator Ron Johnson has been a huge ally and has put those together and yeah, it's, it's there and they really represent the people. Like people look up to people like Cali and Vonnie and Bobby and Dell and. Yeah. I think it's huge to have to have those voices both on the government side of things and just from an educational standpoint. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. The Kellogg's petition.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

How many signatures did that thing get?

[A]

I think it Ended up with like 300,000 signatures that they hand delivered to the Kellogg's headquarters. Freezing cold, middle of nowhere, Michigan.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then, you know what? Six weeks later, the FDA announces it's banning red food. Red number six or red number five or something like that. That shows us the power of this kind of grassroots lobbying, grassroots legislative advocacy. I mean, it really is so loud when people. People like that rally together. Yeah.

[B]

Beautiful.

[A]

And demand change.

[B]

Yeah. And then the heavy metals inside of the Lunchables, that was a big deal. I'm not sure if they changed their.

[A]

Ingredients yet, but yeah, Lunchables is a big one because, I mean, in Lunchables is. Is similar to others where it's totally marketed toward kids. You know, they have like toys in there. It's like the bright colors. It's like food is not supposed to look like Play doh. It reminds me of like those little Play Doh. The kids, you know, the kids like Play Doh toys that are like, oh, make a, like, it's like a restaurant model. That's literally what Lunchables reminds me of. Just plastic.

[B]

I used to eat it.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, same.

[B]

Yeah. Phenomenal. It used to taste amazing. I probably would hate it now.

[A]

Yeah, right, right. It's. And it's like once you. Once you know what's in things like that, you're thinking of it. And we're seeing people so much more conscious of what they're putting in their bodies now. All it takes is a 30 second ad, or 1 minute ad, 2 minute ad, whatever, on what's really in these foods. And then all of a sudden. And that's the first step is just making people aware of it.

[B]

Yup.

[A]

See, I probably wouldn't like it anymore either, but I used to love Lunchables. I used to love things like that.

[B]

What was your go to Lunchable?

[A]

I think I liked the Nacho one the most.

[B]

The nacho one? I like the sandwich one.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, the sandwich one was fun. That fire, I was like building things.

[B]

So.

[A]

Yeah, I did.

[B]

Like, this cheese was so good.

[A]

Yeah. It's crazy. I mean, it's, it's. It's so attractive to kids and delicious. And then they don't want to eat vegetables or anything like that.

[B]

And did you see the Lunch lee launch with Mr. Beast and Logan Paul?

[A]

No.

[B]

Oh, you didn't see that?

[A]

No, I haven't.

[B]

Oh, they made like a Lunchables competitor.

[A]

Oh, really?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

But they're not using the best ingredients, so. Yeah, it's a little concerning.

[A]

We'll have to audit that? Yeah.

[B]

Do you guys do that? Do you do, like, audits?

[A]

Not yet, but I think eventually that would be a really cool kind of series. We talked about that. We're also talking about building a MAHA certification directory. So, you know, there's. There's several other platforms that have things like, okay, you know, find. Find the best. What's the best water bottle at the gas station? You know, you scan that water bottle. Yeah, that one. And then there's several others that do very specific things, but there's not one that's kind of all encompassing. Right. So we're thinking about a MAHA certified program, which would require first defining what counts as MAHA certified and what doesn't take account, you know, where things are grown. Like, just because it's organic doesn't mean it's good. That's one example. You know, it goes so deep. So it'll be, you know, a big long term project, but also MAHA certified provider. So, you know, you just moved to a new city and you want to find a good functional medicine doctor or an integrative health coach or a chiropractor or anything like that. You just put in your zip code and get tons of referrals. Yeah, but in the meantime, I think a sort of MAHA audit series would. Would be really fun. I mean, we've done sort of things like that here and there, but, you know, and Edvani and Callie do such a great job of that too. Alex Clark as well.

[B]

Yeah, she's.

[A]

She's great.

[B]

Yeah, they're all great. I like this one app called Sea Dwell Scout.

[A]

That's a great one. I use that all the time.

[B]

And now they're doing like consumer goods, so they'll have a sticker if it's seed oil free.

[A]

Oh, wow. Okay. I didn't know they were doing a sticker now.

[B]

Yes, they just announced that.

[A]

Okay, amazing.

[B]

Because there's a learning curve when you're getting into this. So like, oh, is this actually healthy or not?

[A]

Right.

[B]

There's so many different ingredients.

[A]

Yeah. And it's overwhelming. And people don't have time. Like health, I think is. Is really comes down to scheduling and finding time to learn these things. You know, that's why people get so overwhelmed. They're like, okay, well, you're telling me I can't have this, I can't have that. There's like 10 different stickers. You know, people don't have time to look over every ingredient list. And that's where. That's where we need to hold these. These big food companies. Accountable. Like they need to. If they're saying that something's healthy and they're marketing it to kids and they're essentially knowingly hiding things. Like natural flavors is a great one. But people see natural flavors and they're like, oh, natural flavors. That's good. Okay, moving on. Don't have time to read between the lines. There's sometimes like a hundred different chemical additives that go into creating a natural flavor. Like, it's not. It's not natural, you know, and so anything that's. Things like that, it's like, why are we allowed to call it, you know, using these blanket statements.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Healthy, organic, or, you know, heart healthy is another big one. Yeah, exactly.

[B]

They don't tell you about the glyphosate, but they'll say it's heart healthy.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. So I think it's all about transparency and education and really empowering people to know kind of what to look out for. I mean, I always say if you can't pronounce it, it's probably not good.

[B]

Yeah, that's a good rule of thumb. Yeah. Because these labels are so misleading. I just found out about grass fed. It just means they were fed grass once.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like their whole life they could have been fed corn, GMO corn. But if they got fed grass once, it's considered grass fed.

[A]

Right. And it doesn't mean that they're free range. Like, they can be totally, you know, kept inside of a cage their whole life, which is.

[B]

There's so many terms for the eggs now. I remember when I was a kid, there wasn't any terms, and now there's like 40 different terms.

[A]

It's crazy. Yeah. And so we have to. And I think that's where Maha comes in and other organizations like Maha, like, while Bobby and his team in government are cleaning up these regulatory agencies, you know, creating regulations so that companies are. Have to be. Be held accountable and have to increase transparency on their products. It's our job to educate people in the meantime because we can move a lot quicker in a lot of ways just with getting on the ground and talking to people and also hearing from them. I learn from people every single day what their individual hurdles are. The school lunches. I just talked to this woman in Dallas whose kids go to a private school in a really nice area. And part of their program is the. The parents volunteer to help the kids, you know, use their meal card to check out or whatever. And they're after second grade. The parents are not allowed to encourage the kids to put back a bag of chips and grab something different. It's like they can fill their tray with Mountain Dew and Starbursts and the parents are not allowed to say anything. That's like one tiny example of like, you know, and that's in a very affluent private school. And she's seeing more and more kids are, you know, falling asleep in class in the afternoon, they're misbehaving and then they're putting, put on Adderall right away. No, like, okay, how about, let's like, come on, it's Captain Obvious. Look at what the kid's eating for lunch.

[B]

So they tried putting me on that in fourth grade.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And looking back at it now is definitely diet issue.

[A]

Yeah, totally.

[B]

You know, 100, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I was eating candy, I was eating chips, I was drinking sodas. You know, as a kid, that can just make you go crazy, I guess, right?

[A]

I mean, your blood sugar, I'm not like an expert in this stuff, but your blood sugar is like. And then you crash. There's no sustainable source of energy. And then your, your body's growing and you need more and more nutrition and you're just getting less and less and it, yeah, it's, it's, it's like the easy way out and we're not. And I think teachers and parents aren't thinking about the long term effects of being on something like Adderall or, you know, Ritalin or Vyvanse or any of those drugs that are totally, I mean, huge chemical dependency.

[B]

Yup. Yeah. I'm curious about the censorship stuff. Are you guys still dealing with that? Because I've had a ton of like health videos get taken down or shadow banned.

[A]

Yeah, I, I mean, it's definitely been better lately, I'd say for. There was a period of time during Bobby's campaign where every time somebody reposted this who is Bobby Kennedy documentary, it got taken down for violating community standards. This mostly on Meta. Violating community standards, sexual and violent content, you know, misinformation. That was the biggest one. Like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. I think now it's gotten a little better. I mean, our ad account on Meta still gets taken down like every other week, which is insane.

[B]

Even still, it's part of the MAGA right now.

[A]

Yeah. Yep. Which is funny. X was the only platform that has maintained its integrity pretty much. But yeah, meta is still. I mean, I notice like I don't have a huge following, but I noticed when I post something about Bobby, it's not seen as much. And then you see people, people's Posts getting. It's like false information, Cy, you know those sort of.

[B]

Yeah, the fact check.

[A]

Yeah, the fact check.

[B]

They just removed that though, I think on meta.

[A]

They did. Okay.

[B]

Yeah. A couple weeks ago.

[A]

Seen in a while, thankfully.

[B]

But because I used to get hit with that one too.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But with the photo stuff, it's nuts because they definitely have some AI. If they see someone's face, they shadow ban it. Because when I do anything with Trump or Trump Jr. Same thing.

[A]

Right.

[B]

I'm sure if I did one with Bobby, it'd be the same.

[A]

That's so interesting. I wonder if you did a picture of like the back of him, if it would still.

[B]

The back. Yeah, that'd be interesting.

[A]

That's.

[B]

But yeah, now whenever I post clips about Trump or Bobby, I don't post their face because I know it's gonna get way less views.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Still now it's still wow.

[B]

Well, I don't know because Duck's part of the team now. I don't know if they changed it, but.

[A]

Right.

[B]

I haven't really.

[A]

Should.

[B]

They should. Yeah.

[A]

I mean, it really affects, like there's still people today that didn't know that Bobby was running for president. I mean, fewer and fewer. But because people go to social media for information and when they can't find anything on someone or it's deemed as misinformation taken down, like they're not getting the same. It's just totally. It's. I mean, I would argue like it's. It's disruptive to an election. You know, it is. Media censorship is the same. It's disruptive.

[B]

And you were getting hit with the traditional media too. They wouldn't let him debate. Yeah, I think if he debated, he would have left a really good impression. I completely agree against Kamala.

[A]

Yeah, I think so too. I mean, back in the, the first. The Trump Biden debate, they wouldn't let him on. CNN actually changed their standards. Their criteria for allowing somebody in a debate that was, I mean, directly really related to there was. It was like, okay, you have to be polling at above 15% in the last six weeks. I'm six weeks or four weeks or something like that. But the reliable polls do not include Harvard Harris. And Bobby had 16 or 17%, 18%.

[B]

Wow. They singled the one out here.

[A]

Yeah. And CNN cites Harvard Harris all of the time.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So either they're trying to keep somebody off a debate stage or they are knowingly lying or using a non reliable polling method to their viewers.

[B]

I think all the polls, I think all the polls would be us, to be honest.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, if you look at them, they're never accurate.

[A]

Totally, totally. And I think a big part of that, too. And, you know, this is a guess leading up to the election, it looked way closer than it actually was. Like, way closer.

[B]

She was leading in some of them.

[A]

Right. And so everybody's kind of, you know, we're feeling good about it, but we're also like, oh, man, this is really neck and neck. I think a lot of people when they get called, like, they. They didn't want to say that they were voting for Trump. There was still this sort of, like, weird feeling with saying it. So we actually put out an ad that was like, what happens at the voting booth stays in the voting booth. You want to vote for Trump. Yeah, that's the.

[B]

Yeah. There is some shame, right?

[A]

Totally.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. So I just wonder, like, you know, Bobby was pulling, like, 20% at one point. What that would number. What that number would look like, one, if he wasn't censored so much, and two, if the polls were somehow more accurate.

[B]

Wow. 20%. Insane.

[A]

Yeah. Like, a lot of the polling companies, they call, and they wouldn't even list Bobby as. As. Okay. They're like, if the election were held today, would you vote for Biden or Trump? Like, we have recordings. People would record when they would get these calls, and. And they would list. They would say or other. And. And it would require the person actually saying Bobby's name in some of them. Or it would say, you know, Trump, Biden, and then it would go. You would have to say other. And then it would give you a whole nother list, like Jill Stein, et cetera.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I think. Yeah, the. The. The methodology is also a huge problem.

[B]

I'm also not a fan of how much money you need to run for presidency. You need nine figures at least. Yeah. It's crazy. Like over 100 million, then that's on the low end. There's been billionaires that lost, like, tons of money.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And that's just to even run for president.

[A]

Right. It's. It's crazy. It's like we should be amplifying these people that have, you know, worked in their local and state legislatures for a while. Like, they don't have a ton of money. Yeah.

[B]

That's why anyone independent never makes a dent, even. Not even 1 2%.

[A]

Yeah. And the ballot access stuff, it's like, huge. Huge financial commitment as well, just in terms of the legal. On the legal side of things. And then, you know, just even figuring out the requirements.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Reaching out to every single secretary of state, having a team on the ground, actually getting the signatures, you know, running that, organizing the petition papers. It was, it was crazy. The. The hurdles. But I mean, we. It just speaks to the passion and the commitment of this movement. People you would think was their full time job. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

You guys had to have your own debate. That's the point.

[A]

It got to.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which was awesome. I mean, that was really cool. We actually planned that with 48 hours until the debate.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah. We had gone back and forth on doing it or not, and, you know, we were still really trying to push and get Bobby on the, on the CNN stage. And we pulled that off. It was a logistical, I mean, production beast. Just, you know, start stopping. I'm not a producer, but our team was. I mean, they were. They were so on it. And I think it came out. I think we had 11 million views.

[B]

11 million views on X alone.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It looks super legit, high quality.

[A]

Thank you. Yeah, it was fun.

[B]

Yeah. He crushed it.

[A]

Yeah. It was amazing. I mean, we were watching that. You were like, how could you not let this guy speak or, you know, cover him on the news or why are you calling everything he's saying misinformation and silencing his supporters and. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

When you see liberals calling Trump a threat to democracy, what goes through your head?

[A]

I just think it's hilarious because the DNC sued, tried to sue Bobby so many times for. For things like, you know, the petition paper being incorrect or starting to collect signatures a day early, or one case, the. The pages of signatures were folded, things like that. They, you know, allocated so much money to just keeping Bobby off the ballot. They did the same thing with Trump in Colorado. You know, it's. It's totally corrupt. It's totally anti democracy. Democracy. It's like if you're. One strategy to win is just keeping everybody else off of the ballot. How. How is that. How is that a democracy? So I just think. I think, I think it's hilarious.

[B]

And the whole way, Kamala got just straight to the top. That doesn't seem Democratic to me.

[A]

Right, right. Not a single primary vote. I mean, it's crazy. And even though Bobby was pulling more votes from Trump than Harris, we never got a single challenge from the right. Not a single one.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

There was no, like, adversaries or.

[A]

Nope. Yeah, it was all. I mean, it was all coming from the left. And, you know, Trump and Bobby coming together, it's like they had so much that they agreed On. Yeah, it was a really, really beautiful alliance.

[B]

It'd be your own people sometimes.

[A]

Yeah, definitely.

[B]

Dang. Was that a big change for you or were you conservative growing up or what's the background there?

[A]

Yeah, so I grew up in San Francisco with the most liberal classmate dynamic you can imagine. Yeah, my parents are conservative. You know, Trump sign on their lawn, everything like that. So I always just avoided politics. I thought it was just a means to conflict and I just hated it. So it's so funny that I ended up here. So for me, Bobby joining Trump just represented the closest thing to a unity ticket that we've ever seen before. You know, bringing in Tulsi, Gabbard, Elon and, you know, the Freedom Force as we were calling it for a while. We had these really cool stickers with them as superheroes. Yeah, it just represented this, this unifying movement like we've never seen before. It's so transformative, you know, two people running against each other, coming together and putting aside their differences for the health and well being of this country. I think that they probably were able to relate to the censorship and First Amendment infringements a lot. And the health issue, of course. So it wasn't at all weird for me. I mean, thinking about we're one day trying to figure out how to beat somebody and how to get more numbers and, you know, up our, up our chances, and then the next we're trying to help somebody win by getting our, you know, Bobby supporters over to Trump, which is what we did for the eight weeks leading up to the election, focusing on battleground states where they wouldn't let Bobby off the ballot, which is another just hilarious thing.

[B]

Nevada was one of them, right?

[A]

Nevada, yeah. Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, believe, yes.

[B]

They wouldn't let him off so he wouldn't steal votes, right?

[A]

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And so it just speaks to the, just anti democratic process. It's like, okay, you're not letting somebody on the ballot, but wait, all of a sudden that, you know, they joined forces with Trump, now we're not letting you off the ballot. It's crazy, really. Just, they were just making up the rules on the fly, which is so not right. And it's not fair to voters, it's not fair to candidates. It's not, it's not a fair process at all. So I think them coming together, it was, I mean, it was, it was beautiful and it was really best case scenario. Bobby's focused on, on, on these health agencies and making America healthy again, making our food healthy again, making our water environment healthy again. And Trump's in there doing his thing. Like, he's been doing so well.

[B]

Yeah. I've never seen so many people on the left transition.

[A]

Mm.

[B]

It seemed like record numbers, right? It must have been a record, actually.

[A]

Yeah. It's crazy. I think that was like the record number of new counties that went red this. This cycle.

[B]

And the right won the popular vote, which hasn't happened in a while.

[A]

Yeah. I think it's just becoming the common sense party, really. It's like, you know, the left has become so intolerant and the right has become. Yeah, it's just common sense. Like, boy should not be playing girl sports, for example.

[B]

They finally got that one through.

[A]

Yeah, I know. They got an. As a college athlete, that was a huge one. That was.

[B]

You were swimmer, right?

[A]

I played volleyball.

[B]

Oh, volleyball, yeah.

[A]

Beach volleyball at Pepperdine.

[B]

Yeah. And that girl got a concussion from that one guy. Basically spiking it. Right?

[A]

Yeah. I knew people who were on track to get a huge pack 12 or other huge scholarship. And then there was a biological man that came in and could obviously hit the ball way harder.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And pretty soon the coaches would drop them.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

Yeah. So it's. I mean, that's like your whole life when you're playing a sport like that and getting recruited. It's your whole. Yeah.

[B]

Dedicated your whole 20 years of high school, middle school.

[A]

Yeah. You know, and then all of a sudden, somebody who's not even a female comes and takes that away from you. It's. It's crazy. So it's. I mean, it's common sense, the border stuff, common sense. Like, it's. It's all common sense. Putting somebody like Bobby Kennedy in charge of our regulatory agencies who knows the chronic disease epidemic in and out and has dedicated his life to solving it. It's common sense.

[B]

Yeah. We gotta fix our mental health crisis, too.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, that's huge. I mean, it's crazy. It's. You know, I think it's one in four women are on an antidepressant medication. 40% of teenagers have a mental health diagnosis, which is crazy. I mean, it's.1. Yes, mental health is at an all time low, but it's also just this increase of diagnosing teenagers when they have depression or anxiety. It's like, that's often a very situational thing, like, why are we putting kids in a box and then prescribing them something that they're then learning to externalize their ability to self regulate and self soothe and be resilient. So I think that we need to think about things like nutrition, fitness, community. You know, the opposite of addiction is community. The opposite of suicide is community. And think about rather than just, you know, somebody saying that they had a bad day and then prescribing them something that they're going to be on forever and has incredibly intense side effects. Why, why not support them? You know, why not create programs in schools where people can talk about these things? It's. And they're not, you know, put on this mind numbing medication. It's.

[B]

Yeah, I think these labels are dangerous too because once you get told you have depression, anxiety, you're just going to start saying that every day and start believing it.

[A]

We're creating victims. We're creating this nature of victimizing people and allowing them to victimize themselves. And it's, it's the opposite of empowerment. It's the opposite of resilience. It's teaching people that they cannot be resilient on their own. They need this product that's making this big company millions and billions and trillions.

[B]

Of dollars, you know, because then they're just going to start saying they have anxiety and they won't do certain tasks and then they'll use that as a.

[A]

Card and think about that generation 20 years from now, what that looks like, you know, or people aren't working people. The, the American dream, you know, work hard, make money, have a, like that's just gone like it's, it's really scary one the you know, physical side effects of some of these things and to just the sort of culture shift it's creating.

[B]

I also didn't want to talk about the infant mortality rate. Oh yeah, 50 times higher than every other industrial nation combined. Why do you think that's so high?

[A]

I haven't, I just heard that stat the other day and I've been thinking about it so much. I mean I think one, it's, and this is what I've heard, I want to do a deep dive into this, but I think it's access to hospitals. A lot of hospitals in rural areas are closing because the, or they're closing their maternity unit because it's too expensive to maintain. And so then, you know, moms are rushing to the hospital, they don't have access to healthcare, to the, you know, the health care that they need when they're having a baby. And think about how that affects the baby. I think it's also probably what pregnant women are eating. I think it's medications they're on. I think it's the environment, water, food, you know, everything like that. Yeah. That number is. Is shocking. And I think that number alone speaks to how dire this issue is. And. And, like, it just doesn't make sense. There's no reason why America should have babies that are dying at 50 times. Yeah. 50 times higher than every other industrialized nation combined.

[B]

That's super.

[A]

Clearly there's something wrong.

[B]

Yeah. I also just found out a lot of nurses are incentivized to do C sections because it's safer for the hospital. They don't want to get sued.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

So the first time they see, like, a red flag when the baby's coming out, they'll just say, oh, C section to prevent getting sued.

[A]

Oh, my gosh. It's insane. Yeah. And it's. They're just protecting themselves. Like these hospitals are just protecting themselves, themselves and not protecting the. Their patients.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Or their providers even, you know.

[B]

No, it's super concerning. I'm at the point now where if I have kids, I'm not gonna go to a hospital.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, I'm at that point.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Because just the more I learn, the more I'm like, what the heck? They also charge you, like, $20,000. I mean, most families cannot afford.

[A]

Right.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

Right. And then these private insurance companies are just totally benefiting. And, you know, you. The more you prescribe, the more people are having to pay for medications and pay for healthcare, and then the complications of healthcare and all of that gets more and more expensive. And so we're incentivizing providers essentially, to diagnose more, prescribe more, and care less. Like, we have a sick care system. We don't have a healthcare system. It's reactive. You know, 90% of what we spend in this country on healthcare is attributed to chronic disease. Like, once people already have a chronic disease, it's totally. It's totally reactive versus proactive.

[B]

Oh, a hundred percent. When I go to the doctor now, I'm in there for like, seven minutes, and there's an hour line to get in.

[A]

Yeah. And how can you really know how somebody's doing and. And support them if you're seeing them for seven minutes, not even looking them in the eye, you know?

[B]

No. They don't even remember you the next time you show up.

[A]

It's crazy.

[B]

Yeah. It's nuts.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. And they're. They're just rushing through, and there's no individual approach to the patient. And then. Yeah. The over prescription thing is a huge problem too, because again, like, how can you know in seven minutes if somebody needs to be On I'm even dear.

[B]

When I was in college, I got Xanax in like three minutes of meeting the doctor. I never met him before. My dad brought me and I got it instantly. He probably didn't even know my name.

[A]

Right? Yeah. I mean, yeah, it's crazy. And I think that problem got a lot worse over Covid, I think. I don't think that the level of ADHD increased that much compared to how much the Adderall usage did. It's just like telehealth and telemedicine made it so much easier for kids to go on and just say I have trouble focusing. You know, I think telemedicine is actually a really good thing. I think it's going to help people in rural areas with access to healthcare tremendously. But I think for things like prescribing a 16 year old Adderall for the first time, that needs to be, be more of a process. There needs to be.

[B]

Get on the phone now.

[A]

Yeah, you can totally get it on the phone.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And there's no assessment or survey or anything like that. I mean I've seen my friends do it. It's like, oh yeah, I've just, you know, I'm having trouble focusing. And then boom, they have a prescription.

[B]

Oh my gosh.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's so crazy to me.

[A]

And then one thing leads to another. Like you're put on some, something like Adderall, which stimulant, and then you can't wind down. So then you're given like Xanax or Trazodone to go to sleep. Then you're kind of just this zombie and then, you know, suicidality increases, things like that. And then you're put on Lexapro and.

[B]

It'S just never ending. Yeah, yeah. I think the average elderly is on like, what is it, seven or eight different things now.

[A]

Yeah, it's. It's crazy. And, and middle aged people, like how many people do we know that just are on, have to take their medication all day long? There's something just seriously wrong.

[B]

No, I don't want to live like that.

[A]

Yeah, exactly.

[B]

Well, Bridget, it's been awesome. Any upcoming events, initiatives from. Aha.

[A]

Yeah. So we're in Phoenix, Arizona tomorrow at the Capitol. We're working on building out this college program where different colleges will have their MAHA chapters and clubs. So we'll be going and speaking at a lot of colleges. We've also just been getting the word out and speaking at a lot of different events. You know, just really taking every opportunity to expand our MAHA army and our Maha audience. You know, both Republican and Democrat events, but also just health conventions, school school conventions, things like that. Any opportunity to get the word out. We've been. We've been doing so.

[B]

I love it. We'll link the websites below. Thanks for coming on.

[A]

Yeah, thanks for having me.

[B]

Check her out, guys. Check out the Maha movement. I'll see you next.