The overreaching online right has a new problem, and one that is fundamentally at odds with their tribune, Donald Trump. Our obsession with holistic health has led us to embrace medically dubious theories and to adopt hostile attitudes toward agriculture and the chemical industry.
The right-wing obsession with health manifests itself in many ways. Some men — and it is overwhelmingly maleOther men will slam the bathtub for being against vaccines, while touting the benefits of eating only red meat to their online followers. Some argue the dangers of seed oils, the oils obtained from pressed seeds such as safflower and rapeseed.
This interest permeates to the highest levels of the movement. Republican Vice Presidential Candidate J.D. Vance What to avoid seed oil Instead, it relies on ghee, a type of clarified butter popular in Indian cooking. “I’m involved in a lot of weird right-wing subcultures.” he said.
Vance isn’t the only one at the top. The widespread conspiracy theory that big government and big agriculture are colluding to poison the American people is becoming increasingly popular among President Trump’s most high-profile allies.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in remarks after canceling his presidential campaign and endorsing Mr. Trump, said that by not including enough vegetables and healthy foods in school lunch programs, “we are poisoning our poor people.” I’m just doing it,” he declared. A few days later, Kennedy appeared on Fox News, Rail against seed oilThese are “associated with autoimmune damage and ADHD,” he said, not to mention “depression.” He added:
Seed oil is one of the unhealthiest ingredients in food, but the reason it’s in our food is because it’s heavily subsidized. Although they are very cheap, they are associated with all kinds of very serious diseases, including inflammation throughout the body, which affects our overall health. This is one of the worst foods you can eat and is almost impossible to avoid. When you eat processed foods, you are eating seed oils.
Kennedy’s insinuation that seed oil causes ADHD, which was not refuted by the Fox host, is false. The National Institutes of Health actually discovered that 2022 survey “Increased dietary intake of polyphenols (some seed oils contain polyphenols) is associated with a lower risk of ADHD in preschool and school children.”
Kennedy and other conspiracy theorists made this claim again when Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) invited them to the Capitol. Roundtable discussion About health and nutrition. Johnson baselessly discusses the event on Newsmax suggested a link Between autism and seed oil:
Look at the explosion in autism and chronic health conditions. [we want to] You will be able to ask the question, “So what is the cause?” And let’s look, for example, at the history of the use of these plants – their seed oils. This is one of the things that has increased significantly. Another is the number of vaccines given to children. When I was young, I only received a few vaccinations, but now I have received over 80 vaccinations. I mean, could that be part of the problem? And we can’t even ask that question, and people who ask questions like Bobby Kennedy have been vilified and ridiculed. . He ended up paying a very high price for trying to advocate for children’s health. I mean, how sick is it?
As you might imagine, the medical community does not agree with the claims of the anti-seed oil movement. american heart association They say there’s no reason to trust them. It is beneficial to avoid these types of oils.
Mr. Johnson has promoted many things on Capitol Hill, including publishing. Editorial On Monday, he took to a Republican-leaning website to slam seed oil and complain about America’s health and “medical institutions.”
Beyond soapboxing politicians, there are plenty of self-styled health experts who scare the public about seed oils while extolling the unproven and sometimes downright bizarre dietary benefits. These include shock jocks Joe Rogan and psychologist Jordan Peterson.
Peterson and other right-wing influencers also endorse the “carnivore diet.” That’s exactly what it sounds like. Unfortunately for Canadian psychologists, restricting the intake of animal products is widely considered to be terrible for humans and a surefire way to increase bad cholesterol (LDL) levels. Peterson expressed his preference for the product in an interview with Elon Musk, who was met with skepticism.
When Musk explained that he injured his shoulder “in a stupid fight with a world champion wrestler.” “A carnivore diet would solve that,” Peterson interjected. this is exchange Continuing:
Mask: What is that? Sorry?
Peterson: The carnivore diet solves that.
Musk: You know, I love meat. I’m a meat professional. I don’t think a carnivore diet will solve this problem.
Peterson: My wife has been injured for 40 years. I solved it in 2 years with a carnivore diet.
Musk: Just eat a steak or something?
Peterson: Yes. All beef. All beef.
Mask: Indeed, certainly. I’m a pro — I like meat, but I think this will probably require surgery or something. But anyway.
Peterson: I’d like to try a carnivore diet first.
If you think so that It seems crazy, but wait until you encounter it anti-sunscreen movement.
What’s interesting about all of this is how far removed it is from the online right’s God Emperor himself. Donald Trump is the embodiment of the junk food diet. “Trump Force One had four major food groups: McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pizza, and Diet Coke,” writes his longtime aide Corey Lewandowski in his book. I’m writing. Trump’s one meal consists of “two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish, and a chocolate malt.”
It’s not just Trump’s personal dietary preferences that make him so unsuitable as the nominal head of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.
During his administration, the federal government Review of nutritional standards removing fruits and vegetables from school lunches (exacerbating the very deprivations that Kennedy denounced as “poisoning the poor”); Trump administration too Agricultural subsidies were significantly increased. Kennedy said that corruption is one of the problems plaguing this country, but at the same time Reduce the role of FDA To protect food safety.
In the pre-Trump era, Republicans mocked Michelle Obama’s school lunch program. Rolled back immediately When you enter the White House. Currently, many of them criticize the current poor state of school lunches, but do not have the policy perspective to provide better health and nutrition programs. Instead, we are left with a constant stream of conspiracies flowing from the enthusiastic mouths of health freaks.
Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware) wall street journal Monday highlighted one of the many ways U.S. tax policy can be unduly punitive. Americans who are wrongfully detained abroad often return home after months or even years of hardship to find hefty bills from the IRS awaiting them. More than that, the agency claims it has a duty to provide leniency.
Koons wrote:
Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was detained in Iran for 544 days from 2014 to 2016. When he was released, the Internal Revenue Service expected him to repay his taxes with interest, racking up late penalties totaling thousands of dollars, even though they knew he was being illegally detained overseas. imposed. IRS officials said they had no legal authority to dismiss the charges.
Americans taken hostage or wrongfully detained should not be treated like tax fraud. That’s why in March, I introduced the Suspension of Tax Penalties for American Hostages Act with Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota. The bill would prevent the IRS from issuing late fines to former hostages and illegal detainees.
Just as hostages cannot report to the IRS, they also cannot pay credit cards, car loans, or mortgages. These late payments can damage your credit score. If you don’t receive a paycheck while incarcerated, you also won’t pay payroll taxes, which will reduce your Social Security benefits when you retire.
Fortunately, Coons and his Republican colleagues, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and North Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, are working to right these wrongs.
