What happened
Activists from the Make America Healthy Again movement are expressing disappointment and frustration over the speaker list and corporate sponsors for the upcoming MAHA Summit in Washington.
The summit, which features Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Vice President JD Vance, has been criticized for its range of topics, including artificial intelligence in healthcare and pharmaceuticals, which some activists feel do not align with the movement's original priorities.
Regenerative farming advocate Kelly Ryerson and Dr. Robert Malone, a prominent figure in the MAHA movement, have spoken out against the event's sponsorship and speaker list, which includes companies such as Hims & Hers, Noom, and Walmart.
Ryerson and Malone argue that the summit has abandoned the movement's skepticism of large healthcare corporations and has instead been hijacked by pharmaceutical industry interests.
Other activists, such as Mary Talley Bowden, have also criticized the summit, saying that it does not represent the grassroots movement's values and priorities.
In response, Jennifer Galardi, a policy analyst with the MAHA-aligned policy division at the Heritage Foundation, acknowledged that she may disagree with some of the topics and experts invited to the summit, but defended the MAHA Center's decision to host a diverse range of discussions.
