Donald Trump as a new pick to serve as “the nation’s doctor” as surgeon general. He announced Wednesday he would be nominating MAHA movement star Casey Means, MD, for the post after withdrawing the nomination of his original pick, Jeanette Nesheiwat, MD.
Nesheiwat, the sister-in-law of now ousted National Security Advisor Mike Walz, had been scrutinized for her background (she is the a graduate of a Caribbean medical school and medical director of a chain of urgent care clinics) and her vocal support of COVID protocols like masking and vaccinations for children.
Trump did not address the switch directly when he shared the news on Truth Social. “Casey has impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials, and will work closely with our wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to ensure a successful implementation of our Agenda in order to reverse the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and ensure Great Health, in the future, for ALL Americans,” Trump wrote. “Her academic achievements, together with her life’s work, are absolutely outstanding. Dr. Casey Means has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States History. Congratulations to Casey! Secretary Kennedy looks forward to working with Dr. Janette Nesheiwat in another capacity at HHS.”
The selection of Means is already drawing criticism from the left and from some on the right. On Thursday’s show, Megyn reacted to the concerns and explained why she is “110 percent behind” Trump’s choice.
Megyn’s Take
“I am thrilled. I love Casey Means. She is at the heart of MAHA. She is one of these functional medicine gals, who really thinks we have been too focused on these band aids we put as temporary fixes on chronic illnesses as opposed to, yes, curing them but also stopping them in the first place…
She was at the top of her Stanford undergrad class, which is not easy. And then she went to Stanford Medical School and finished at the top there. Then, she gets a prestigious ear, nose and throat surgical residency at the University of Oregon… She crushing it in her residency and within one year of finishing… when she said, ‘I cannot do this one minute longer.’
There was a woman who Casey had to operate on. She had been in for repeated operations for the same problem, if memory serves, and Casey said to herself, What are we doing? We’re not helping. We’re just churning and burning the same fixes on these patients and then spitting them back in out in a process where they will not be educated, helped, nothing around them will change.
She found it too disheartening to continue, so she went in to her attending physician and said, ‘I’m leaving the program.’ He begged her not to… But she left and she started her own practice and get more into functional medicine. She started thinking about the things that would ultimately wind up in the book Good Energy and would be at the center of the MAHA movement…
So, why is she getting mercilessly attacked right now by some within the MAHA movement and by Laura Loomer? I really don’t dismiss Laura Loomer because people call her a conspiracy theorist, but she has been right about a lot… She is really taking aim at Casey, and I have to say, on this one, I disagree strongly.
I’m going to tell you some of the allegations. She said that Casey Means’ dad wrote a pro-trans children’s book back in 2020. He did write a book that was about an odd duckling or goose that basically wound up being gay. In the opening to the book, he does say “coming of age is challenging for most children, but it can be especially tough for those grappling with their gender and sexual identities.” He mentions gender, but I have looked at the book – at least what I could find – and it is really about a gay goose. It is not really about the trans issue.
By the way, it is her father. It is not her. If she had written this, maybe it would lead to a follow-up question at her hearings like, ‘What do you think about children grappling with their gender identities?’ But I can tell you something because I know Casey Means…. She is where I am on this. She is not pro the transing of children at all… She is not going to be – in any way, shape, or form – supportive of puberty blockers for minors, cross sex hormones for minors, or surgeries for minors. And if somehow I am proven wrong – and I won’t be – I will personally lobby the president to fire her…
Loomer points out that she never completed her residency. That is true. I just gave you the context. She points out she does not even have an active medical license in Oregon. That is true because she decided to stop practicing medicine a couple of years into her private practice and [start] this company [called Levels Health] that… sort of helps millions as opposed to individuals.
And I can speak to this as a lawyer. I passed the bar in New York, in Illinois, and in Massachusetts… I practiced at length in New York state, in Chicago, and in Washington, D.C., for that matter, and I wound up going dormant on all of my law licenses many years into joining journalism full time because (A) it costs money and (B) it is a lot of continuing legal education or, in her case, medical education… She is still a doctor, but she just chose not to stay licensed so that she could actually practice medicine. She could get that license back…
Laura is upset, too, that she is a little, like, out there in some of her spiritual practices. She pulled up Casey’s newsletter where she talked about ‘the things I did to try to tap into the mystical side of evolving my consciousness and being ready for partnership’ – like looking for a man, which she did find and she got married… [Casey] said, ‘I don’t necessarily recommend these, but these were part of my journey’… She’s been very open about it. She has got a little Eastern Medicine in there, but she is very Western Medicine, too, and sees all of its problems.
Then, you have the hardcore anti-vaxxers who want her to come out and condemn the fact that anyone is still taking the COVID vaccine. I have news for those people: She would be totally unconfirmable. [Trump] cannot choose somebody who feels that way, as controversial as most of us find the vaccine at this point.
So, that is my take on her. I think she is the antidote to most of the problems we all see right now in the medical industrial complex. She and her brother Callie are warriors for revolution within our healthcare system, and I am 110 percent behind both of them.”
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,068 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.