JD Vance flexing MAHA connections as he eyes 2028 election

Vice President JD Vance, widely seen as the Republican frontrunner for 2028, used an appearance at the Make America Healthy Again summit in Washington to tie himself to the movement, even as it splinters. The Guardian reports that the administration's standing is slipping amid the war in Iran and rising prices, and that a new AP-KFF survey found 68% of rural MAHA supporters believe Trump's health policies have done nothing for, or harmed, health in their communities.

On stage with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, Vance joked about memes and the carnivore diet, and teased his chief rival, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, over his poker face. Vance claimed his anti-fraud task force had found close to $250bn in fraud in federal health programs, which he blamed on immigrants, though the administration has offered few details and no documentation backs his claim about undocumented people receiving Medicare.

Sponsors included UnitedHealth, Walmart and Anthropic, and according to Bloomberg, companies paying $300,000 got speaking slots and a dinner with Kennedy and Mehmet Oz. NYU's Art Caplan called it a "giant conflict of interest" but said Vance could still benefit from the movement.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →