Former RFK Jr adviser blames special interests for midterm losses

A former top Trump administration health adviser, Calley Means, has accused White House officials of prioritising special interest groups over the will of voters, stalling the "Make America Healthy Again" (Maha) agenda. His claims have fuelled a fresh row after the Republicans' heavy defeat in the midterm elections.

Means resigned two weeks ago from his job advising Robert F Kennedy Jr. He has singled out former White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Wiles was removed as chief of staff last week and replaced by Stephen Miller. Richard Walters, a close ally of Wiles, also resigned from the administration on Friday.

Speaking on Joe Rogan's podcast on Friday, Means said: "They made a crap ton of promises and then they don't keep any of them." In his view, that is why the Republicans lost the midterms. "We have been discordant from what was run on, two years ago," he said.

The Republicans suffered major losses in last week's midterm election. The Democrats outperformed expectations, taking both chambers of Congress, a majority of governor offices, and flipping dozens of House seats. Since then, Republicans have been looking for someone to blame for the defeat.

Means told CBS News that Wiles and her "very close-knit crew" — two White House deputy chiefs of staff, James Blair and Richard Walters; policy adviser Walker Barrett; and Tony Fabrizio, a pollster for Trump — "explicitly catered to special interests against the will of the voters".

Among the allegations, Means said Wiles did not support efforts to make American diets healthier because the administration needed to take money from "the sugar people" for the midterms. "They would often say that we can't do certain things because that would hurt special interest configuration for the midterms," Means told Rogan.

Means also claimed Wiles and Blair pressured the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to approve flavored e-cigarettes, otherwise known as vapes. Blair denied the claims to CBS News, saying he "didn't promote flavored vaping specifically at all" — he was tasked with aligning the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) nicotine delivery device application process with federal law.

Blair said: "Calley is intentionally misrepresenting my role and my responsibility because he opposes the issue entirely." He added that the president himself has made his position on smoking and smoking alternatives known very publicly and has provided clear direction. On social media, Blair threatened to sue Means and accused him of lying.

Means also accused Fabrizio of refusing to support several Maha initiatives while simultaneously taking money from industry giants and pharmaceutical companies. In one example, Means said Fabrizio had advised against defining "ultra-processed foods" while taking money from PepsiCo.

Kennedy posted a statement to X on Friday, saying: "I stand firmly behind President Trump and the historic reforms we are advancing together." He wrote: "Draining the swamp is a mandate, and we have an obligation to deliver. Entrenched interests have exercised power in Washington under both parties for decades."

Contacted for comment, the White House said: "The Trump administration has never allowed and will never allow outside groups to influence policy decisions." The White House added that President Trump is busy executing his America First agenda, including the largest working-class tax cuts in history, over a million private sector jobs added, a sealed shut border, and violent crime at the lowest level in nearly a century.

In Means's view, much of this happened without President Trump's full knowledge. "I don't think President Trump fully knew that some of these advisers were taking money from the industries we ran on fighting against," he told CBS News.