Backlash from “Make America Healthy Again” influencers and right-leaning podcasters over the Trump administration’s February 18 executive order boosting domestic glyphosate production — the herbicide used in Roundup and widely identified by scientists as a carcinogen — has been loud and, at times, profane. But even when the policy is described as a betrayal, criticism is rarely directed at President Donald Trump or Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., instead being redirected in ways that preserve alignment with the administration.
During the March 23 episode of The Shawn Ryan Show, right-leaning podcast host Shawn Ryan expressed deep frustration with the executive order, saying, “Thank you, Trump. Thank you, RFK. Good fucking job. Way to fucking stick to your constituents.”
“Every fucking thing that came out of these guys’ mouth is a fucking lie,” Ryan continued. “It makes me think, what is the fucking point of voting?”
He reiterated his frustration during the March 26 episode, questioning the administration’s national security rationale for the order.
Ryan’s anger stands out because he directly assigns responsibility to Trump and Kennedy for the administration’s actions on glyphosate. But across the Make America Healthy Again movement, backlash to the order has largely followed a different pattern: Among right-leaning influencers and podcasters, criticism is severe, but responsibility is redirected away from Trump and Kennedy.
This dynamic isn’t new. MAHA influencers have repeatedly expressed outrage over the administration’s pesticide policy while failing to hold Trump or Kennedy accountable. Moms Across America founder Zen Honeycutt called the order “an egregious offense” and “a betrayal,” while adding that “Bobby is not in charge of Trump.” Food activist Vani Hari described “a level of anger and frustration like I’ve never witnessed before,” but noted, “Secretary Kennedy has done everything he said he’s going to do.” In February, podcaster Joe Rogan complained about glyphosate’s harms without directly referencing the administration’s role in expanding its use.
The pattern became especially clear across multiple shows more recently. During the March 19 episode of Critically Thinking with Dr. T and Dr. P, Honeycutt said Trump’s glyphosate executive order “made me sick to my stomach,” called it “outrageous,” and said it was “an F-you to the MAHA movement.” But even as she condemned the policy, Honeycutt framed it as the product of pressure on Trump rather than a decision he owns. She pointed to chemical companies and people in his orbit, suggested he had been influenced or coerced, and ultimately returned to a message about consumer pressure and farmers choosing not to use glyphosate.
The same pattern reappeared on Rogan’s podcast that week. During the March 19 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan acknowledged that “Trump passed an executive order” blocking efforts to restrict glyphosate use, but did not directly criticize him. Instead, he returned to familiar warnings about glyphosate, suggesting long-term exposure “can’t be good.”
During a March 20 appearance on American Thought Leaders, actor and MAHA supporter Rob Schneider criticized the administration’s move on glyphosate more directly. He said he was “very much angry” about the policy and accused the administration of giving Bayer protection for a “known cancer-causing agent.” But Schneider did not treat that anger as reason to break with Trump. Instead, he pointed to “captured agencies,” corporate influence, and a political system shaped by corporate power, while also describing himself as “a big fan of this administration.”
Across most of these examples, the criticism is severe, but responsibility is displaced, preserving alignment despite direct policy conflict. The policy can be described as dangerous — or even a “betrayal” — but the decision is attributed to external pressure, institutional capture, or surrounding actors rather than Trump himself.
The result is a movement willing to call the policy a betrayal without fully treating it as one.
