President Trump has withdrawn the nomination of Dr. Casey Means, his decide for surgeon basic, whose affirmation was stalled amid opposition, together with from some Republicans, over her views on vaccines and her unconventional approach to drugs.
In a social media publish on Thursday, Mr. Trump introduced a brand new nominee: Dr. Nicole B. Saphier, a radiologist who has a wellness podcast and has appeared ceaselessly on Fox Information. She is the director of breast imaging at MSK Monmouth in New Jersey, a department of Memorial Sloan Kettering Most cancers Heart in Manhattan.
Mr. Trump described Dr. Saphier as “a STAR doctor who has spent her profession guiding ladies dealing with breast most cancers” and “an INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR, who makes sophisticated well being points extra simply understood by all Individuals.”
Not like Dr. Means, Dr. Saphier, 44, doesn’t seem like a heroine in Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Wholesome Once more motion, whose leaders view her as too standard. She has praised vaccines as lifesaving and has at occasions criticized Mr. Kennedy as an ineffective messenger. She has additionally been crucial of Dr. Means.
However she has additionally embraced among the tenets of the secretary’s agenda. She rejects vaccine mandates and desires the childhood vaccine schedule to be versatile sufficient to permit some mother and father to delay giving infants their pictures. Mr. Kennedy known as her “a longtime warrior for the MAHA motion” in a social media post on Thursday.
“Can we alter the timeline?” Dr. Saphier requested throughout a 2025 podcast. “Does each single youngster want all of those vaccines? As a result of the fact shouldn’t be all vaccines are created equal; lumping them collectively simply utterly erases the science.”
Years earlier than Mr. Kennedy popularized the “Make America Wholesome Once more” slogan, Dr. Saphier revealed a e-book below that identify. She can be the creator of a e-book known as “Panic Assault: Taking part in Politics With Science within the Combat In opposition to Covid-19,” which railed towards some lockdown measures pushed by Democratic lawmakers. She has additionally slammed the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention for its administration of the Covid pandemic and mentioned particularly that the company has misrepresented the danger of Covid to kids.
Mr. Trump’s determination to withdraw Dr. Means’s nomination was surprising, however maybe inevitable. Three Republican well being committee members — Senators Invoice Cassidy of Louisiana, the chairman, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — refused to say whether or not they would vote for her.
In one other social media publish on Thursday, Mr. Trump assailed Mr. Cassidy who, he mentioned, “stood in the best way of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Nominee, Casey Means, for the vital place of U.S. Surgeon Basic.” (Mr. Kennedy doesn’t make nominations; the president does.) Mr. Kennedy, who called Dr. Means “one of many MAHA motion’s strongest evangelists,” accused Mr. Cassidy of doing “the soiled work for entrenched pursuits.”
A spokesman for Mr. Cassidy didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Dr. Saphier’s probabilities of being confirmed are troublesome to foretell. Her views on vaccination seem, in sure respects, just like these of Dr. Means; each have mentioned vaccines save lives, and each have mentioned mother and father have to make vaccination choices alongside their docs. However in contrast to Dr. Means, who didn’t emphasize her views on vaccines, Dr. Saphier has hit the difficulty head-on.
“We now have to be very clear right here: When vaccination charges go down, preventable illnesses come again,” Dr. Saphier mentioned lately on her “Wellness Unmasked” podcast. “That’s not political. That’s epidemiology; that’s actuality. And on the identical time, Individuals are additionally making one thing else clear. They need transparency. They need selection, and so they wish to make choices alongside their docs — to not be instructed what to do by shifting insurance policies or unclear messaging, and people two issues can really coexist.”
She went on: “Backside line is that this: Vaccine is likely one of the only instruments now we have to stop critical sickness. That’s true, but when we proceed to ship blended alerts, we danger shedding the general public’s belief completely, and as soon as that’s gone, it’s very laborious to get again.”
Dr. Saphier had a considerably unconventional path into drugs. She grew to become pregnant when she was 17 and has spoken about her expertise as a teenage mother. (She has since had two extra kids.) She went to medical faculty at Ross College in Barbados and has additionally embraced different drugs, saying she lives her life combining Western drugs with “Eastern techniques” and “natural remedies.”
She describes herself as a part-time farmer on her Instagram account and sells a line of dietary supplements known as DropRx, together with natural tinctures for stress reduction and focus.
Dr. Saphier is Mr. Trump’s third surgeon basic nominee. His first was Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a former Fox Information contributor. However her nomination was withdrawn in Might 2025 after Laura Loomer, a right-wing influencer who’s near the president, opposed her. Ms. Loomer additionally opposed the nomination of Dr. Means.
Had she been confirmed, Dr. Means, a “purposeful drugs” doctor and wellness influencer whose brother Calley Means is a prime Kennedy adviser, would have been a extremely unconventional surgeon basic. Whereas she is a licensed doctor and a graduate of a top-notch medical faculty, Stanford College, her license is on “inactive” standing in Oregon. She can be a vocal critic of the medical institution.
Along with being grilled on vaccines, Dr. Means confronted sharp questions from Ms. Collins, the Maine Republican, about her experimentation with psychedelic remedy after the demise of her mom. After Dr. Means testified that “Individuals are prepared to listen to about spirituality because it pertains to drugs,” Ms. Collins mentioned she understood spirituality, however added, “It’s the hyperlink to illicit medicine that I’m having a tough time with.”
In an interview Thursday after Mr. Trump’s announcement, Dr. Means mentioned she would proceed to be an advocate for the problems she is captivated with. She additionally praised Mr. Trump, who has angered many MAHA influencers over a current government order aimed toward ramping up manufacturing of the weedkiller glyphosate, which some scientists have linked to most cancers.
“There’s a actually constructive cultural motion occurring proper now the place persons are asking the federal government to assist them get wholesome and assist them arise towards company pursuits which might be making us sick, and the federal government has mentioned, sure, we’ll enable you to,” Dr. Means mentioned.
“I genuinely imagine in my coronary heart that the Trump administration is making an attempt to determine the way to transfer the balls ahead,” she added. “Sure, there are some setbacks, however there are some large wins, and the best way that tradition has moved ahead prior to now 12 months is monumental.”
Certainly, Thursday was a day for MAHA wins and losses. Simply days after MAHA activists and politicians from each events rallied exterior the Supreme Courtroom to protest the administration’s stance on glyphosate, the Home stripped the farm invoice of a provision that may have prevented states from warning shoppers concerning the risks of pesticides. Motion leaders celebrated.
Lower than two hours later, Mr. Trump introduced he was withdrawing Dr. Means’s nomination.
“After the glyphosate government order fiasco, this seems like yet one more intestine punch to MAHA voters,” Alex Clark, a wellness podcaster who works for the right-wing advocacy group Turning Level USA, mentioned in a textual content message.
Ms. Clark was amongst a variety of MAHA leaders who met lately with the president and his aides, and instructed them that the affirmation of Dr. Means was vital to them. Dr. Means additionally attended.
“Political video games killed her nomination, and no Democrat was keen to struggle for her as a result of they didn’t wish to endorse a Trump nominee,” mentioned Vani Hari, one other MAHA chief. “It’s so poisonous.”
Ms. Hari known as Dr. Saphier “slightly institution.” Ms. Clark known as her “terrifyingly pro-vaccine.” Dr. Robert Malone, one other ally of Mr. Kennedy, mentioned Dr. Saphier was “reasonable MAHA.”
Now will probably be as much as Mr. Cassidy, the well being committee chairman, to set a schedule for Dr. Saphier’s affirmation listening to. He has but to schedule a listening to for an additional Trump well being nominee, Dr. Erica Schwartz, his pick to lead the C.D.C.
However Mr. Cassidy could also be in any other case occupied, and has little incentive to take steps to please the Trump administration. He’s dealing with a tricky main opponent in his re-election marketing campaign in Louisiana. Mr. Trump, who’s indignant that Mr. Cassidy voted to convict him after he was impeached in 2021, has endorsed Mr. Cassidy’s opponent.
