{"id":2608154,"date":"2026-05-29T07:12:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T11:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/can-congressional-democrats-co-opt-maha-from-the-maga-verse\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T07:12:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T11:12:02","slug":"can-congressional-democrats-co-opt-maha-from-the-maga-verse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/can-congressional-democrats-co-opt-maha-from-the-maga-verse\/","title":{"rendered":"Can congressional Democrats co-opt MAHA from the MAGA-verse?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcan-congressional-democrats-co-opt-maha-from-the-maga-verse%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2608154&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ahead of the Nov. 3\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-election\/\">midterm elections<\/a>, congressional\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\/\">Democrats<\/a>\u00a0are pushing to peel away tenuous\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/republican\/\">Republican<\/a>\u00a0voters. Sen.\u00a0Cory Booker\u00a0(D-NJ) is pushing it a step further, targeting a relatively new element in President Donald Trump\u2019s MAGA coalition: the \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d movement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Booker, a vegan, recently implored Democrats not to fight the MAHA movement, even if it means embracing some fans of Trump, a reviled figure in liberal circles.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4586358\/gop-low-t-strategy-against-james-talarico\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>The GOP\u2019s \u2018low-T\u2019 strategy against Talarico in Texas<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4586334\/abdul-el-sayed-pac-funds-consultants\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>El-Sayed PAC spent majority of funds on consultants, records show<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4586603\/platner-collins-feud-over-iraq-war-service\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Platner and Collins feud over his \u2018decision to serve\u2019 in Iraq War: \u2018Slap in the face\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe should be telling those loving moms and dads that they are right, right about the chemicals, right about the ultra-processed foods, right about the chronic disease, right that something in America is profoundly broken,\u201d Booker said at the Center for American Progress\u2019s Ideas Conference, a gathering of liberal wonks, in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) addresses a rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Monsanto Company v. Durnell on April 27. (Sue Dorfman\/ZUMA Press Wire via Newscom)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The MAHA movement, a diverse coalition of groups, coalesced around Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s concerns that too many factors in the United States were making people sicker at the expense of enriching corporate America\u2019s coffers. The movement has also mostly aligned with the Trump administration. But Booker, 57, believes Democrats may have an inroad to winning over MAHA voters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/2025\/24-1068\"><em>Monsanto Company v. Durnell<\/em><\/a>\u00a0case has caused some frustration among MAHA advocates after the Trump administration supported Bayer, the maker of RoundUp. Bayer manufactures herbicide glyphosate, the main chemical in RoundUp.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roughly 1,000 people, the New Jersey senator noted, participated in the\u00a0\u201cPeople vs. Poison\u201d\u00a0rally at the Supreme Court in late April. MAHA advocates have also slammed the Environmental Protection Agency for rolling back restrictions on forever chemicals in drinking water.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-strange-political-bedfellows\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Strange political bedfellows<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some Democrats argue that the GOP\u2019s general opposition to government regulation makes it difficult to achieve MAHA\u2019s ambitions. Yet, that doesn\u2019t mean the movement is an easy fit for the ideology of most Democrats either.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe core of MAHA fundamentally distrusts science and institutions,\u201d said Kaivan Shroff, a media and culture commentator. \u201cPart of the core Democratic base is deeply institutionalist and is very concerned about the trend away from science and facts. Still, there is definitely an opportunity for Democrats to reach the MAHA-lite crowd that is focused on items like banning harmful food colorings or limiting pharmaceutical advertisements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shroff added, \u201cThose are actually socially positive policy issues, and a smart Dem could come up with a policy or two that attracts some of those voters \u2014 especially as they start to grow frustrated with Trump, as many in MAHA have.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Booker, along with Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), recently introduced the No Immunity for Glyphosate Act, which would overturn Trump\u2019s\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2026\/02\/promoting-the-national-defense-by-ensuring-an-adequate-supply-of-elemental-phosphorus-and-glyphosate-based-herbicides\/\">executive order<\/a>\u00a0promoting the production of glyphosate. While speaking at the CAP conference, Booker, a senator since 2013 and previously mayor of Newark, New Jersey, claimed that MAHA parents \u201care being betrayed by the current administration\u201d over the herbicide.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another Democrat, Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), teamed up with Rep.\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/thomas-massie\/\">Thomas Massie<\/a>\u00a0(R-KY) and introduced an amendment to the farm bill, which would remove language shielding chemical companies from health-related lawsuits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Massie\u2019s May 19 Republican primary loss was also a blow to MAHA supporters. The libertarian-leaning congressman, who earned a B.S. and M.S. from MIT and holds over two dozen patents, has touted his work on agriculture over what will be a 14-year House career when his term expires on Jan. 3, 2027.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jennifer Galardi, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, disagreed with the suggestion that Democrats could persuade MAHA voters to defect from the GOP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBooker, I think, took a genuine interest in MAHA, but when it comes down to the votes, they have \u2018Trump derangement syndrome,\u2019\u201d Galardi said of Democrats. \u201cI think MAHA has its challenges and faces really some tough uphill battles, but I don\u2019t think those will get any easier under Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Galardi claimed that, by definition, MAHA is incompatible with political liberalism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI just see it more aligned with conservative thinking,\u201d she said. \u201cThe natural order, food is medicine, no foreign substances in our body, no controlling of Mother Nature.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-rfk-jr-derangement-syndrome\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">RFK Jr. derangement syndrome?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chief among the tensions for Democrats courting MAHA voters is the Left\u2019s ire toward Kennedy, a former Democrat who is now an independent. Kennedy has riled Democrats by questioning the effectiveness of vaccines, firing federal health workers, and expressing skepticism about the scientific establishment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAny candidate that comes forward and stands up for the health and safety of our children is very likely going to earn the vote of the American people, and that could be Democrats, or they could be Republicans,\u201d said Zen Honeycutt, the founder and executive director of Moms Across America. \u201cNow this is a very tricky election because the Democrats have threatened to impeach Trump and Kennedy, so there is a major movement from the MAHA movement to maintain a Republican majority in the House so that that does not happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If Democrats can prove they are willing to work with Kennedy and take action on pesticides, that could help make inroads with MAHA voters. But another core principle of the movement could complicate issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey have to stop mandating vaccines,\u201d Honeycutt said. \u201cThere\u2019s not a single MAHA voter that\u2019s going to support a candidate that\u2019s pushing vaccine mandates.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democratic strategist Randy Jones conceded that party members need to address past messaging failures to a public increasingly skeptical of the medical and scientific community. But he stressed the importance of honesty and credibility, especially when dealing with health policy and vaccines, in reaching MAHA voters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI absolutely think we need to have dialogue with those voters, but I think in doing so we need to point out the lies,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWe need to point out the fact that MAGA and MAHA are doing everything they can to limit scientific and medical advancement in this country through DOGE cuts and in other ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4578894\/tobacco-industry-money-causes-maha-maga-rift\/\"><strong>TOBACCO INDUSTRY MONEY CAUSES MAHA-MAGA RIFT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Democratic Party has struggled to rebuild its image after the 2024 election, as polling has shown voters view the party as weak and believe it has gone too far left.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe lost because of a math problem. We have to win people back to take back Congress and take back the White House,\u201d Jones said. \u201cBut I think when we do that, we need to continue to be the party of science, the party of advancement, and the party of being honest with voters about their health and health policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Mabinty Quarshie (@MabintyQ) is a White House reporter for the\u00a0<\/em>Washington Examiner<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ahead of the Nov. 3\u00a0midterm elections, congressional\u00a0Democrats\u00a0are pushing to peel away tenuous\u00a0Republican\u00a0voters. Sen.\u00a0Cory Booker\u00a0(D-NJ) is pushing it a step further, targeting a relatively new element in President Donald Trump\u2019s MAGA coalition: the \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d movement. Booker, a vegan, recently implored Democrats not to fight the MAHA movement, even if it means embracing some<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2658,"featured_media":2608155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/WB.Congress.060326.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2608154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/WB.Congress.060326.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2608154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2608155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2608154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2608154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2608154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}