Multiple prominent podcasters and social media influencers have suggested in recent weeks that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may exit his role, citing complaints from MAHA voters and the string of high-profile resignations within President Donald Trump's Cabinet. Tensions between the Trump administration and MAHA influencers reached new heights this spring after Trump signed an executive order promoting the production of glyphosate, a pesticide ingredient that “has been linked to cancer in numerous studies.” 

At the start of June, podcaster Shawn Ryan asked guest Megyn Kelly which Trump administration official would be the next to resign. Kelly replied, “RFKJ,” adding that Trump and Kennedy are “dismantling the MAHA agenda week by week." The former Fox News host singled out the Trump administration’s defense of glyphosate as a key flashpoint.

“All the MAHA moms, which is really just like a placeholder for everybody who cares about, you know, chemicals in our food, went ballistic saying this is a complete betrayal,” she explained.

Other pundits have noted the importance of the glyphosate issue, including podcaster Joe Rogan, who referenced the pesticide ingredient on June 12 while discussing the “pressures” placed on Kennedy in his HHS role. 

“I’ve had long conversations with RFK, and that guy is in struggle all day,” Rogan said. “It’s a battle all day. It’s dealing with all these pressures, and — look, they've made a lot of headway. They’ve made a lot of headway with peptides, they’ve made a lot of headway with eliminating some of these unnecessary food dyes and all these different things that we've been subject to, but they lost with glyphosate. That was a big one, man. Glyphosate was a big one." 

Just two days prior, Tiffany Cianci, an influencer known online as “The Vino Mom” who organized at least two virtual town halls with Kennedy before the 2024 election, shared a clip predicting that Kennedy would be the next Trump Cabinet member to leave the administration.

In the clip, Cianci told podcast host Sean Kelly, “When Trump aligned himself with MAHA, I like to say that he rented the voters and the MAHA coalition, he chose not to buy them," adding, “Basically, he told the American people that Bobby was going to be given the mandate to run wild." 

The clip was shared by wellness influencer Lauren Lee, who posted it to her Instagram story. Meanwhile, an account for the MAHA Mom Coalition, the leadership of which includes MAHA advocate Zen Honeycutt and right-wing media personality Mike Cernovich, also engaged with the post, writing, “Bobby is not quitting lol. Anybody theorizing that clearly does not know him." 

Rumors of Kennedy's resignation gained further traction following a social media post from Robert Malone, a former member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Malone, who was selected for the ACIP by Kennedy but resigned in March over complaints of “drama” with HHS staff, wrote on June 12, “BREAKING- Very active rumor mill currently with specifics from senior USG (government) employees that RFJjr will be leaving as Secretary HHS in July, after the 4th. Meeting was apparently held last Monday. Oz to head transition team." 

HHS responded to Malone's post on social media: “This is utterly false.”

On his June 13 show, right-wing internet personality Alex Jones read Malone’s post on-air and quoted a statement attributed to Megyn Kelly: “If true, MAHA is officially dead." 

The following day, Jones repeated the claims that Kennedy would resign, saying, “We're also going to dovetail that with reports by Robert Malone and other very credible people that the word is RFK Jr. will be gone after July 4." Jones added that the rumor “fits with the whole trend of Tulsi Gabbard and others who — she was run out of there.”

Podcaster Tim Pool seemed to agree with Jones' interpretation, saying, “The Trump admin is very much circling the wagon." Pool listed recent resignations from the Cabinet and noted denials around the initial rumors of Gabbard’s exit as director of national intelligence, adding, “Now there's rumors circulating that RFK Jr. might resign, and they’re denying it. … I’m just telling you what I hear in the Beltway.”