President Donald Trump watches as Surgeon General Jerome Adams speaks during a news conference in Washington on Sunday, March 22, 2020.Yuri Gripas / Reuters
President Donald Trump’s first surgeon general denounced his latest pick for surgeon general, MAHA influencer Casey Means, on the grounds that she “doesn’t meet” the basic requirements for the job — an assessment seemingly shared by every living previous surgeon general.
“The role of surgeon general has centuries of precedent and requirements, and she doesn’t meet them,” Trump’s first surgeon general Jerome Adams told The Washington Post in an article published Sunday. Describing his objections as “operational, not personal,” Adams pointed out that if confirmed Means would not even be a member of the physicians corps but rather would be appointed through a provision that applies to health service workers. That alone would be unprecedented for a surgeon general, and perhaps explains why no previous surgeon general has come to Means’ defense.
“The irony would be the nation’s doctor wouldn’t even be in the corps as a doctor,” Adams told the Post.
For these and other reasons, Means’ appointment has not moved forward despite the social media influencer having been nominated almost 11 months ago.
“She doesn’t have the experience, she doesn’t have the background, she doesn’t have the credibility, she has no public health background,” Richard Carmona, who served as surgeon general under President George W. Bush, told The Washington Post.
Ironically Trump’s original pick to be surgeon general in his second term, Janette Nesheiwat, was pressured into withdrawing her nomination because some questioned whether she had embellished her credentials. Yet Nesheiwat also supported vaccines, leading to pressure against her from supporters of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. which ultimately caused her to withdraw her nomination.
“I thought [Nesheiwat] was sufficiently qualified for the role,” Adams told The Post. In response to Adams’ criticisms, Means’ brother and White House official Calley Means denounced Adams as “a lightweight” lacking in intelligence, then adding with a misspelling that Adams’ supposed lack of intelligence is “obvious to litterally [sic] everyone.” Adams replied to the Post by saying, “We can and should have vigorous debates about how to improve America’s health. But lowering the discourse to crass ad hominem attacks comes across as childish and defensive.”
Although Means is being embraced by the Christian right for her opposition to established medicine, she is not a traditional Christian fundamentalist. As Salon’s Amanda Marcotte wrote in May, “Trump's new pick for the nation's top doctor, though she does not have a medical license, favors the occult-speak popular in the 'wellness' influencer world where she makes her money. As Kiera Butler and Anna Merlan at Mother Jones documented, Means veers 'in a more new age direction' in her 'medical' writing." Yet although Means is not explicitly affiliated with the Christian right, they embrace her because of her anti-feminist politics.
"Along with her shrines-and-moons talk, Means also wrote that she had shed 'my identity as a feminist,' giving up on wanting 'equality in a relationship' to instead embrace 'a completely different and greater power: the divine feminine," Marcotte wrote. "It's woo-woo, but ultimately no different than the message promoted by conservative Christians: that a woman's role is as a man's helpmeet, not his equal."
With such passionate backing, Means’ confirmation has been particularly contentious, prompting a sharp exchange of words last month between Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) about the larger role of liberal policies in American health care.
"No, I support a national healthcare program which would cut the —" Sanders said shouting over Mullin as Mullin attacked Sanders for supporting President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
"I'm sorry, it's my time," Mullin told Sanders.
"But you're attacking me!" Sanders replied
"Nah, I'm pointing' out facts!" Mullin retorted. "You can say what you want I'm just pointing' out facts."
Sanders shot back, "No. You're pointing out lies.” Later, when Mullin apologized for having “ranted too long” and Sanders said “Yes you did,” Mullin replied “I'm sorry, I didn't ask your opinion on that. If I cared about your opinion I would ask you. But I don't care about your opinion. You're part of the system. You're part of the problem.”
