President Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Casey Means, faced questions on Wednesday about the president’s recent executive order promoting more domestic production of glyphosate, an ingredient in weedkiller, and how that might conflict with her own beliefs about the potential effects of the chemical.
Watch the clip in the video player above.
During her confirmation hearing, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., asked Means, a wellness influencer and author, about her past comments that glyphosate causes cancer and whether she believes Trump’s order harms the health of families. Means is a supporter of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, which largely opposes pesticides in food production, as well as an ally of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“We must as a country move away from using toxic inputs in our food supply and we must study these chemicals more to understand their effects. I am very gravely concerned about the health impacts of these chemicals,” Means said.
“I understand that, Doctor. I’m just trying to help you to agree with yourself. You’ve already said it in the past, but Trump is contradicting you,” Markey said.
The Environmental Protection Agency says there is “no evidence glyphosate causes cancer in humans.”
Means later said that the MAHA strategy was “going to make sure American consumers are protected, and that we are entering an era where we are going to prioritize helping farmers move to more sustainable farming practices. I think those are all good things. I think it’s extremely important, both for our planet and our health, and I’m going to be a champion on that issue.”
“The MAHA movement is not happy with the Trump executive order,” Markey said. “That’s the reality.”
