WASHINGTON – In a surprising pivot from his typical roster of political insiders and television personalities, President Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Casey Means — a Stanford-trained physician turned wellness influencer — to serve as the next U.S. Surgeon General.
The announcement came just hours after the withdrawal of former Fox News contributor Dr. Janette Nesheiwat from consideration for the post. But conservatives are calling Means a “near Wiccan,” accusing her of dabbling in Witchcraft and occult practices that, they say, offer false hope, distract from Jesus’ message as a savior and healer, and are unrelated to established modern medical science.
Trained as a head and neck surgeon at Stanford Medical School, Means left her surgical residency during her fifth year, citing disillusionment with a healthcare system she believes focuses too much on treating symptoms rather than addressing the root causes of disease. Though she graduated from Stanford Medical School, she does not currently hold an active medical license.
Means chose to practice functional medicine, an alternative medicine approach to treatment. She has become a prominent advocate of lifestyle medicine, arguing that conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity are best prevented through nutritional changes, exercise, and metabolic awareness.
Casey Means at U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) Full Roundtable Discussion, American Health and Nutrition: A Second Opinion in 2024. [Public Domain]
She co-authored the wellness-focused book Good Energy with her brother, Calley Means, and co-founded Levels, a health tech startup focused on metabolic tracking. The company is backed by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, whose founders endorsed Trump in 2023. One of Levels’ co-founders, Sam Corcos, now serves as chief information officer at the U.S. Treasury Department.
Trump praised Means’ background as “impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials,” referencing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” campaign. Kennedy echoed the sentiment, calling her “a breath of fresh air” for a healthcare system in need of transformation.
While she hasn’t fully aligned herself with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stance on vaccines, Means has echoed some of his positions. In her newsletter, she called for reforming the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act to allow patients to sue vaccine manufacturers. She also questioned the safety of the current vaccine schedule, stating — despite scientific consensus to the contrary — that there is “growing evidence” the vaccine load may be contributing to health issues in vulnerable children.
Unsurprisingly, Means is already the target of MAGA vitriol, underscoring a split inside the president’s base over the future of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” campaign.
Means’s nomination has quickly ignited a firestorm of criticism and speculation from within Trump’s own base, particularly among figures aligned with the conservative Christian right. The uproar stems less from her professional credentials and more from her spiritual and holistic approach to health.
United States Public Health Service seal [Public Domain]
Archived newsletters and public posts have resurfaced in which she discusses practices like setting up ancestor shrines, talking to trees, working with plant allies, participating in full moon rituals, and using “plant medicine” — the latter accompanied by a mushroom emoji. In one newsletter offering advice on “finding love at age 35,” she suggested group meditations to tune into “Spirit,” working with spiritual guides, and embracing the energy of ritual space with “grounded, powerful women.”
In her newsletters, Means has also written about the “Woo Woo,” a term she uses for “The Mystery.”
Right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, a close Trump ally, called Means a “near Wiccan” and accused her of relying on “inanimate objects and spirit mediums.”
“I would call her a Witch Doctor,” Loomer posted on X, “but she doesn’t even have a valid active medical license.”
The backlash may be highlighting a deeper ideological divide in Trump’s coalition—between those embracing holistic and alternative approaches to health, and those who are anchored in conservative Christian frameworks, wary of any language resembling Paganism, New Age, Witchcraft, or the occult.
Despite the criticism, Means has received vocal support from both Trump and Kennedy. Kennedy described the attacks on Means as a sign that “entrenched interests — including Big Food and its industry-funded social media gurus — are terrified of change.”
“She will provide our country with ethical guidance, wisdom, and gold-standard medical advice even when it challenges popular orthodoxies,” he added.
Still, not all Kennedy allies are on board. Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy’s former running mate and ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, expressed frustration on X, saying Kennedy had promised her neither of the Means siblings would be involved in HHS appointments.
“I don’t know if RFK very clearly lied to me, or what is going on,” Shanahan wrote. She called the siblings “artificial and aggressive,” and likened them to “Manchurian assets.”
The controversy surrounding Means’ nomination appears to be less about her qualifications and more about the symbolic role the Surgeon General plays, and a Christian-centric approach to all aspects of society, which includes the spiritual orientation of a practitioner, is relevant in their leadership and the delivery of advice. Traditionally tasked with guiding public health policy, the officeholder also shapes the cultural conversation around wellness.
In other words, their vision of what “American values” should look like in healthcare and science is embedded in a specific religious orientation.
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