In a series of social media posts on Thursday, President Trump withdrew the nomination of Make America Health Again influencer Casey Means to be surgeon general, attacked Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La) for Means’ stalled nomination in the Senate, then announced a new nominee: Nicole B. Saffier, a breast radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, a Fox News contributor, and founder of an herbal supplement company who Questions have been raised on vaccines.
Trump’s abandonment of Means is not a surprise. The Stanford University-trained doctor’s nomination has been stalled in the Senate since his confirmation hearing in February before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which Cassidy chairs. Subsequently, it became clear that many Republican lawmakers, including Cassidy, had objections to his nomination.
Doubts about the instrument
In particular, concerns focused on his vaccine views and qualifications. Although she has a medical degree, she has given up her medical residency and has no active license, meaning that if confirmed, she would serve as the nation’s top doctor without practicing medicine. During his hearing, he largely tried to avoid questions about vaccines, avoiding explicitly recommending life-saving shots or contradicting the views of anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Since leaving her medical career, Means has built a lucrative wellness career, becoming a major influencer among Kennedy’s MHA movement. Thus, he has promoted clinical trials, herbal remedies, various health products, teas, supplements, and “elixirs” while providing questionable health advice. in the book good energywhich he co-wrote with his brother and is considered by some to be the “Great Bible”, contains a chapter titled, “Trust Yourself, Not Your Doctor.”
In a post about Means’ failed nomination, Trump criticized Cassidy, calling him “a very disloyal person” who “stood in the way of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nominee, Casey Means.” He then explained: “I nominated Casey, on the recommendation of Secretary Kennedy, a strong super-warrior who, with perhaps the possible exception of me, understands the super movement better than anyone else!” Trump thanked Means and said she would continue to fight for the MHA.
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