Trump Picks Incompetent Wellness Influencer for Surgeon General
'I am pleased to announce that Dr. Casey Means, will be nominated as our next Surgeon General of the United States of America. 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. Her academic achievements, together with her life's work, are absolutely outstanding,' Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday. 'Dr. Casey Means has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States History. Congratulations to Casey!'
Trump's original nominee, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, was axed for not being sufficiently kooky enough for the likes of Laura Loomer.
'[Dr. Nesheiwat] used her access to Fox News to promote the dangerous Covid vaccine, which is now killing millions of people,' Loomer wrote on X this week. 'She tried to shame people who didn't take the vaccine by calling them global health threats. Vaccines are a matter of PERSONAL HEALTH FREEDOM.'
Means has no active medical license, as she dropped out of her residency after becoming 'disillusioned' with basic medicine. She instead decided to commit herself to alternative medicine.
She also has unsurprisingly controversial views on vaccination.
'I have said innumerable times publicly I think vaccine mandates are criminal. I think corruption in the FDA is overwhelming. I think RFK is doing God's work in calling all this out,' Means wrote on X last November.
'There is no benefit to the baby or the wider population for a child to get this vaccine who is not at risk for sexual or IV transmission. There is only risk. Kids who don't have this unnecessary pharmaceutical can't go to school in many states,' she wrote in August, referring to the hepatitis B vaccine. 'EVERYONE should become curious about why these interventions are institutionally jammed down our throats and people are made to be heretical whackos for questioning it.'
Actual medical professionals raised immediate alarm after news of Means's nomination broke.
'Casey Means is a grifter who dropped out of ENT residency & start a company selling glucose monitors & health all to non-diabetics. She doesn't know basic science, yet claims she's a metabolism expert,' scientist Dr. Andrea Love wrote on X. 'Incomplete ENT residency ≠ expert. Of course she's up for Surgeon General.'
More information about Means's confirmation hearing schedule is expected in the coming weeks.
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New York Post
13 minutes ago
- New York Post
Curtis Sliwa's quality-of-life crackdown makes sense. But he still won't be the next mayor of New York City
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Los Angeles Times
13 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump's federal law-enforcement crackdown ripples through D.C. neighborhoods
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The White House has credited Trump's crackdown with hundreds of arrests, while local officials have criticized the aggressive intervention in the city's affairs. The confrontation escalated Tuesday as the top federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia opened an investigation into whether police officials have falsified crime data, according to a person familiar with the situation who wasn't authorized to comment publicly. The inquiry could be used to bolster Trump's claims that the city is suffering from a 'crime emergency' despite statistics showing improvements. The mayor's office and the Police Department declined to comment. Blocks away from where Yahyaoui had set up shop, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local police stopped a moped driver delivering pizza. The agents drove unmarked cars and wore tactical vests; one covered his face with a green balaclava. They questioned the driver and required him to present documentation relating to his employment and legal residency status. No arrest was made. The White House said there have been 465 arrests since Aug. 7, when the federal operation began, including 206 people who were in the country illegally. The Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement and the president signed an executive order on Aug. 11 to put the Police Department under federal control for 30 days; extending that would require congressional approval. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump was 'unapologetically standing up for the safety of law-abiding American citizens.' Glorida Gomez, who has been working a fruit stand in Columbia Heights for more than a decade, said business is worse now than during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said many vendors stopped coming because they were afraid of encountering federal agents. Customers seem less willing to spend money too. 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Sam Liccardo (D-San José) introduced a bill that would require a report outlining the cost of any National Guard deployment unrelated to a natural disaster, as well as its legal basis. It would also require reporting on any Guard interactions with civilians and other aspects of the operation. Forty-four Democrats have signed on in support, including Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington's nonvoting delegate in the House of Representatives. Although the measure stands little chance of passing while Republicans control the chamber, it's a sign of a wider Democratic response to Trump's unprecedented moves in Washington. 'Are L.A. and D.C. a test run for a broader authoritarian takeover of local communities?' Liccardo asked. He added that the country's founders were suspicious of 'executive control of standing armies.' Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said that 'Democrats continue to side with criminals over law-abiding Americans.' It's unclear what kind of help the National Guard will be able to provide when it comes to crime. 'The fact of the matter is that the National Guard are not law-enforcement trained, and they're not going into places where they would be engaged in law enforcement activity,' said Jeff Asher, a crime analyst and consultant at AH Datalytics. 'So I don't know that it's fair to expect much of it.' Trump declared in a social media post that his initiative has transformed Washington from 'the most unsafe 'city' in the United States' to 'perhaps the safest, and getting better every single hour!' The number of crimes reported in D.C. did drop by about 8% this week as compared with the week before, according to Metropolitan Police data. There was some variation within that data, with crimes such as robberies and car thefts declining while burglaries increased a bit and homicides remained steady. 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Los Angeles Times
13 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump is undermining California's EV goals. The state has a new plan to fight back
From Donald Trump's first day back in office, he vowed to unravel California's sway over the nation's auto-emission standards by eliminating the state's progressive zero-emission mandates. He made good on that promise within the first several months of his second term. After a series of controversial congressional votes in May, Trump signed legislation that effectively nullified several of California's auto-emission standards, including the state's landmark regulation to ban selling new, gas-only cars statewide by 2035. Several weeks later, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order reaffirming California's commitment to its emissions goals, and effectively sending state agencies back to the drawing board in light of a newly antagonistic federal government. Their task: to reassert California's climate leadership and identify policies to boost zero-emission vehicle sales. At stake isn't just sales numbers for car and truck manufacturers, but California's ambitious climate agenda and the health of millions of its residents. Without the federal rebates and subsidies to support widespread adoption electric vehicles, the state will almost surely fall short of its greenhouse gas reduction targets and remain in violation of federal air quality standards. Unless, that is, Sacramento steps in, in a big way. On Tuesday, state officials delivered an eight-page report to the governor's office detailing several strategies to do just that. It focuses on boosting zero-emission vehicle adoption and reducing tailpipe emissions in communities dealing with some of the nation's worst air quality and most rapidly intensifying effects from global warming. In Southern California, alone, about 1,500 residents die annually due to exposure to unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to Liane Randolph, chair of the California Air Resources Board, one of the agencies that authored the report. 'Clean air efforts are under siege, putting the health of every American at risk,' Randolph said. 'California is continuing to fight back and will not give up on cleaner air and better public health. We have a legal and moral obligation.' The report comes amid a statewide slump in electric vehicle sales, expiring federal clean-vehicle subsidies and widespread economic uncertainty from Trump-imposed tariffs. In the document, California officials argued that one of the most important ways to counteract federal actions is to find state funding to restore subsidies for zero-emission vehicles. Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' will end federal tax credits for zero-emission vehicles — up to $7,500 for car buyers — on Sept. 30. Because electric vehicles generally cost more than their gas-powered counterparts, government incentives were critical in encouraging Americans to buy cleaner cars. Not long after Trump's election, Newsom committed to restore funding for a state rebate program if Trump eliminated the federal tax credit. The previous state program, which ended in 2023, provided $1.49 billion in funding for more than 594,000 electric, hydrogen or plug-in hybrid vehicles, according to the state Air Resources Board. That offered thousands of consumers up to a $7,500 rebate for purchasing or leasing a new zero-emission vehicle or plug-in hybrid, and the initiative prevented drivers from burning more than 456 million gallons of fuel, according to estimates. A new round of state subsidies for zero-emission vehicles would likely require state lawmakers to introduce new legislation or to create a specific allocation for that purpose in California's budget bill next year. Daniel Villasenor, a spokesperson for Newsom's office, said the state's cap-and-trade program — the state's leading climate program that generates $4 billion annually — could be the source of new zero-emission vehicle incentives. 'The Governor and his team are reviewing the recommendations set forth in the report,' Villasenor said. 'As the Governor said when he signed the executive order, California will continue our world-leading transition to cleaner cars.' Last year, more than 1.75 million new cars were sold in California; over 25% of those were zero-emission or plug-in hybrids, according to state data. As of June 30, about 900,000 cars have been sold in 2025, and 22.3% are zero-emission or plug-in hybrids. Tesla registered only 76,000 new cars statewide, well off its pace last year, when it sold around 200,000. Adrian Martinez, director of the nonprofit Earthjustice's 'Right To Zero' campaign, said government subsidies are critical for California to not only meet its clean air and climate goals, but to also stay economically competitive. 'It's smart for California to think about how they can [counteract] some of the reckless behavior of the federal government,' Martinez said. 'It's incredibly important right now, because there's huge environmental need for these zero emission vehicles. But there's also huge economic benefits from facilitating and advancing electric vehicles, including a lot of jobs in California.' State officials have advised the governor's office to consider other financial inducements to zero-emission drivers, such as free or reduced costs to drive in lesser-congested toll lanes on California highways. Electric car owners, who are permitted to drive alone in carpool lanes with a state-issued decal, are poised to lose privileges on Sept. 30 without federal authorization. The report calls on the California Public Utilities Commission to explore financial incentives to make electric-vehicle charging less expensive as electricity prices have risen substantially. It also broadly proposes expanding and maintaining the state's electric-vehicle charging networking, which has been plagued by broken charge ports, long wait times and too few stations. In addition, state officials stressed the need to lead by example. The state operates a fleet of more than 35,000 vehicles, and it is essential, the report says, that new vehicles purchased be zero-emissions. 'One of the opportunities is whether or not the state fleet might be able to move even faster [than our requirements],' Randolph said. 'I think it's a wonderful opportunity for sate fleets to show how zero-emission vehicles can be deployed.' Beyond incentives and demonstrating its own purchasing power, environmental advocates say California and local regulators must continue to adopt innovative regulations within their own authority. California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta sued the federal government moments after Trumped signed legislation that overturned California's auto emissions standards, including the Advanced Clean Cars II — the regulation that which would have banned the sale of new gas-only cars by 2035. As Bonta continues to fight for the landmark rule, Newsom's executive order in June instructed the California Air Resources Board to begin drafting the state's next major regulation in the coming months: Advanced Clean Cars III. There aren't specifics, at this point, so it's unclear if it is intended to build on existing regulation or act as an alternative measure if Trump succeeds in defeating Advanced Clean Cars II. In either case, state officials are signaling that California does not intend to shelve its environmental agenda. 'The world is accelerating forward toward cleaner vehicle technologies, and is going to watch the U.S. fade into the rearview mirror because this administration is choosing to quit the race,' Randolph said. 'This report shows California is still going to keep up the momentum.'
