President Donald Trump was forced to pul the plug Thursday on his embattled MAHA surgeon general nominee Dr. Casey Means and instead tapped Fox News star Dr. Nicole Saphier as his third pick for the nation’s top doctor job.
Trump pointed the finger squarely at a Republican senator for tanking Means’ nomination.
“I nominated Casey, a strong MAHA Warrior, at the recommendation of Secretary Kennedy, who understands the MAHA Movement better than anyone, with perhaps the possible exception of ME!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Nevertheless, despite Senator Cassidy’s intransigence and political games, Casey will continue to fight for MAHA on the many important Health issues facing our Country.”
Minutes later, he introduced Saphier as a star veteran.
“Nicole is a STAR physician who has spent her career guiding women facing breast cancer through their diagnosis and treatment while tirelessly advocating to increase early cancer detection and prevention, while at the same time working with men and women on all other forms of cancer diagnoses and treatments,” Trump wrote. “She is also an INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR, who makes complicated health issues more easily understood by all Americans. Dr. Nicole Saphier will do great things for our Country, and help, ‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN.'”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who chairs the Senate Health Committee and is facing a tough reelection battle this year, had refused to bring Means’ nomination to a committee vote. He was unapologetic despite Trump’s anger.
“She didn’t have the votes to pass,” Cassidy said Thursday. “The White House has known for a while she didn’t have the votes to pass.”
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wasn’t buying it, blasting Cassidy on social media.
“Bill Cassidy once again did the dirty work for entrenched interests seeking to stall the MAHA movement and protect the very status quo that has made America the sickest nation on earth,” Kennedy wrote.
Means’ nomination had been in trouble since her February 25 confirmation hearing, where she refused to directly say that she would encourage mothers to vaccinate their children. Means said “science is never settled” when asked about vaccines and autism.
Saphier is a mainstream choice. She works as an expert in radiology and is the director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Monmouth County, New Jersey. She holds active medical licenses in New York, New Jersey, and Arizona, completed a fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, and spent years as one of the most recognized medical voices on Fox News.
Fox News confirmed her contract has been terminated — standard procedure when Trump taps one of the network’s personalities for a government role.
Still, Kennedy praised Saphier as “a long-time warrior for the MAHA movement.” Her 2020 book — titled Make America Healthy Again — predated Kennedy’s use of the phrase as his signature slogan and covers much of the same territory, including chronic disease prevention through diet and lifestyle changes. Her 2021 book, Panic Attack, criticized pandemic-era school closures and lockdowns.
If confirmed, Saphier would become the nation’s doctor — with the power to issue public health advisories for the entire country.