 "Rift in Trump world? Are Elon Musk and Robert F Kennedy Jr clashing over weight loss drugs?")
Donald Trump isn’t even in office yet, but there may already be trouble in MAGA world.
It looks like ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk is tweaking Robert F Kennedy Jr, whom Trump has appointed to oversee the Department of Health and Human Services.
Musk, the richest man in the world, on Wednesday signalled his support for weight loss drugs.
RFK Jr, on the other hand, has vowed to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ via diet and exercise.
But what happened? And what could be the possible fallout?
Let’s take a closer look:
What happened?
Musk on Wednesday took to X to post a photo of himself.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO was dressed as Santa and posing in front of a lit-up Christmas tree.
Musk, who been tapped to co-lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), in the post entitled ‘Ozempic Santa,’ showcased a slimmed down version of his physique.
“Like Cocaine Bear, but Santa and Ozempic!” he added in a follow-up post.
Musk in the comments section later clarified that he Mounjaro – an anti-obesity drug manufactured by Eli Lilly – rather than Novo Nordisk’s popular diabetes drug Ozempic.
“Technically, Mounjaro,” Musk said. “But that doesn’t have the same ring to it.”
Mounjaro, much like Ozempic, is a GLP-1 inhibitor drug.
Originally developed to help control blood sugar in patients with type-2 diabetes, these drugs were found to suppress appetite and promote a feeling of fullness.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsMusk in another post showcased a childhood picture of himself dressed as Santa.
The picture shows Musk as a child wearing a Santa suit, clutching a white bag and standing in front of a tree.
Musk captioned this post “How it started vs how it’s going.”
Musk in a later post added that high doses of Ozempic made him “fart and burp like Barney from the Simpsons.”
“Mounjaro seems to have fewer side effects and be more effective,” Musk wrote.
Shot at RFK Jr?
As per Daily Beast, Musk’s posts quickly gained traction in MAGA world – many of whom took them as a direct shot at RFK Jr.
Though the Biden administration in November announced it would cover expensive anti-obesity drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound for those in Medicare and Medicaid, RFK Jr has constantly spoken out against how he is against using drugs to combat obesity.
“The first line of response should be lifestyle,” RFK Jr told CNBC’s Jim Cramer earlier this month.
As per ABC News, RFK Jr also claimed that weight loss drug makers are “counting on selling it to Americans because we are so stupid and so addicted to drugs.”
“If we just gave good food, three meals a day, to every man, woman and child in our country, we could solve the obesity and diabetes epidemic overnight,” he added.
As per USA Today, RFK during his failed presidential bid ran a “Make America Healthy Again” campaign in which he urged Americans to diet and exercise to improve their health.
This isn’t the first time Musk has gone to bat for GLP-1 drugs on the whole.
“Nothing would do more to improve the health, lifespan and quality of life for Americans than making [GLP-1 drugs] super low cost to the public. Nothing else is even close,” Musk wrote on December 11
Musk had written a post in the backdrop of the chatter online over the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the role of the health industry in the United States.
The suspected shooter, Luigi Mangione, in his manifesto, had taken the insurance companies to task over the quality of healthcare in the United States.
Shirtless photos of Musk on vacation have repeatedly made the rounds on social media with many critiquing his physique.
Musk in 2022 admitted to using a GLP-1 drug to regulate his weight.
“Fasting,” he replied to a user asking what his secret to looking ‘ripped and healthy’ was. “And Wegovy.”
With both Musk and RFK Jr having Trump’s ear, it remains to be seen whose viewpoint will ultimately prevail.
What do experts say?
That it isn’t as simple as merely telling people to diet and exercise.
“The problem, of course, is that people being people apparently find it difficult to maintain such changes over long periods,” Dr David Nathan, a Harvard diabetes researcher, told The New York Times.
Christopher Gardner, a nutrition researcher at Stanford, told the newspaper that diet is the key.
“Yes, diet should be the answer,” said Dr Gardner. But diet will be insufficient “unless some major changes are made to the whole food system in the United States.”
Dr. Kevin Volpp of the University of Pennsylvania, said he is concerned by the idea that such drugs could gain widespread acceptance.
“All this is like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle,” Dr Volpp said. “But we have to try everything that will help make our population healthier, given the rise in obesity from 12 percent to 40 percent in the past few decades.”
“There is not enough money in the system to suddenly fund drugs for that many people,” he concluded.
With inputs from agencies
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