MAHA unleashes on White House after Trump backs pesticide

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MAHA unleashes on White House after Trump backs pesticide

 

MAHA advocates promptly denounced the move and said it would threaten Republicans’ chances in the midterms.

 

By Marcia Brown and Cheyenne Haslett- Politico – February 20, 2026

 

President Donald Trump’s Wednesday night executive order promoting production of a widely used herbicide is threatening to blow up a coalition that played a key role in his 2024 election victory.

 

Make America Healthy Again activists brought into the Republican fold by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are furious over Trump’s move to ensure adequate supplies of the herbicide glyphosate, a prime target of their efforts to crack down on toxic chemicals that they argue are killing Americans.

 

“I’m witnessing the bottom falling out on MAHA,” MAHA influencer Kelly Ryerson, who goes by the moniker “Glyphosate Girl” online, said of watching the reaction on X. “People came along on MAHA because of pesticides and foods. It wasn’t because of vaccines.”

 

The controversy encapsulates the president’s tightrope walk as he struggles to maintain grassroots support while he courts traditional Republican farm and business allies.

 

Just last month, the White House, GOP lawmakers and Republican strategists coalesced around a midterm election strategy that centered on popular food policies of the MAHA agenda to help hold onto tight majorities in Congress. Now Trump appears to be doubling down on his position to protect pesticide use.

 

His administration already sided with the maker of the glyphosate-based Roundup in the company’s Supreme Court case and Republican lawmakers are pushing for legislation to make it more difficult to sue pesticide manufacturers. Wednesday’s executive order put a heavy focus on glyphosate’s role in keeping food affordable and farmers afloat, both potential weak points for the president in the midterms.

 

Some Democrats have already seized on the issue, using it to question the Trump administration’s dedication to food and health.

 

“Trump’s executive order is nothing more than an attempt to protect one of the biggest producers of a toxic pesticide from legal liabilities,” said Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in a statement. “The message from this Administration is clear: chemical company profits are more important than your health.”

 

Full at:

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/20/maha-unleashes-on-white-house-after-trump-backs-pesticide-00790187