MONTHLY _ INSIGHT & ANALYSIS

DAILY_ MEDIA REVIEW

From the Left

In the Center

On the Right

Conservative perspectives

Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for Operation Warp Speed’s global impact
Stat News 8.6.25

Quick Take: Dr. Marc Siegel's key point: Trump's first-term Covid vaccine program saved millions of lives — and recognizing it might also help heal some vaccine divisions

Health is an economic trump card
Financial Times 8.3.25

Excerpt: “How delicious to see the American food and drink industry meet its match, in the unlikely duo of Donald Trump and his health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.”

Quick Take: The piece credits RFK Jr. and MAHA for taking on junk food as part of preventative health and ties it to economic progress, in part, by stemming chronic disease.

RFK Jr., Vaccines and the Trial Bar
Wall Street Journal 8.7.25

Quick Take: WSJ questions whether RFK Jr.'s views on reforming the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program align with Trump's.

More facts / less politics

Food companies make promises while MAHA looks for more
Axios 8.7.25

Quick Takes: 


• Companies including General Mills, PepsiCo, Conagra, Nestle, Hershey, Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and Steak 'n Shake to varying degrees are advancing the MAHA agenda.

• Axios, however, finds some leading MAHA influencers are skeptical that these company announcements amount to long-term “wins.”

HHS to Wind Down mRNA Vaccine Programs
Wall Street Journal 8.5.25


Quick Takes:

•HHS said it is winding down its mRNA vaccine-development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

•The move includes terminating 22 vaccine investments and canceling and shrinking various contracts and solicitations.

•The funding would be reallocated toward broader vaccine platforms, RFK Jr. said.

Dr. Mehmet Oz on drug prices and Medicaid changes in Trump's new tax law
CBS Face the Nation 8.3.25

Quick Takes:

•How do Medicaid recipients who work prove that without getting caught up in paperwork and bureaucracy?

•While Medicaid work requirements are often perceived as sound public policy, states must implement systems to verify eligibility which is complicated.

Liberal / progressive perspectives

RFK Jr. Public Health Menace
The Chuck Toddcast 8.7.25

Quick Takes:
• Chuck Todd gives what he calls a scathing assessment of RFK Jr.'s "dangerous tenure as health secretary."

• He feels Kennedy has dismantled America's public health infrastructure through lies, conspiracy theories, and decisions that will harm American public health, and specifically low-income children for decades to come.

• There is no mention of any RFK Jr. initiatives or commonsense reforms that enjoy widespread bipartisan support.

Trump once hailed mRNA vaccines as a ‘medical miracle.’ Now RFK Jr. is halting advancement.
Associated Press 8.7.25

Quick Takes:
• AP reported positive comments made about the importance of vaccines during COVID from President Trump and former top officials at HHS and the CDC.

• AP implies that government funding cuts will stop mRNA vaccine development. Private sector pharmaceutical companies, however, can continue research and development.

mRNA funding cut is "most dangerous public health decison ever"
PBS Newshour 8.6.25

Quick Take: PBS picked up on the Washington Post coverage below, highlighting the same voices opposed to RFK Jr.

RFK Jr. announces end to some mRNA contracts, including for flu, covid
Washington Post 8.5.25


Quick Takes:
• RFK Jr. announced a crackdown on mRNA vaccine technology and research to develop it, following months of pressure from anti-vaccine activists.

• Career staff at the biomedical defense agency did not agree and saw withdrawal of the funding as a political move, according to two people familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

• Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious-disease expert, called the targeting of mRNA “dangerous” and “shortsighted.

Category title 1

Write a short description of this category

Category title 2

Category title 2

Analysis of news coverage and opinions driving healthcare policy. Delivered every Monday morning via e-mail.

Contact

Subscribe