Nicole Shanahan, the former running mate of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., claimed that someone is “controlling” Kennedy’s decisions at the Department of Health and Human Services — and that the recent nomination of Dr. Casey Means as Surgeon General is part of a larger, troubling pattern.
Shanahan, who ran on a ticket with Kennedy during his independent presidential bid before he withdrew from the race and endorsed Trump, took to social media to voice her frustration over Trump’s announcement that he was nominating Dr. Means — a wellness-focused physician and co-founder of a metabolic health startup — to the nation’s top public health post. The decision reversed a previous plan to nominate Dr. Janette Nesheiwat.
“Yes, it’s very strange. Doesn’t make any sense,” Shanahan wrote. “I was promised that if I supported RFK Jr. in his Senate confirmation that neither of these siblings would be working under HHS or in an appointment (and that people much more qualified would be).”
Shanahan’s reference to “siblings” was aimed at Dr. Casey Means and her brother, Calley Means, a political activist and entrepreneur who joined the Trump administration in March as a special government employee at HHS. Both siblings have been vocal proponents of alternative approaches to healthcare and have aligned themselves with efforts to overhaul the U.S. medical establishment — particularly in the realm of nutrition and chronic disease.
But Shanahan, once a close ally of Kennedy, now claims his decision-making is no longer his own.
“It has been clear in recent conversations that he is reporting to someone regularly who is controlling his decisions (and it isn’t President Trump),” she alleged. “With regards to the siblings, there is something very artificial and aggressive about them, almost like they were bred and raised Manchurian assets.”
Her claims ignited immediate backlash and confusion online, as critics questioned whether her comments signaled a deeper rift inside the Trump administration’s public health leadership — or perhaps a personal falling out between Shanahan and Kennedy.
President Trump praised Dr. Means in his official announcement, calling her credentials “impeccable” and stating she would help implement the administration’s health agenda in coordination with Secretary Kennedy.
“Dr. Casey Means has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States history,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He also indicated that Dr. Nesheiwat, though passed over for Surgeon General, would still play an important role at HHS.
Shanahan’s outburst throws a wrench into what the Trump administration had hoped would be a smooth and symbolically powerful partnership between Trump and RFK Jr., with both men positioning themselves as health reformers seeking to reverse the tide of chronic illness and restore trust in federal health agencies.
Whether Shanahan’s allegations gain traction or quietly dissipate remains to be seen, but they expose growing tensions over influence, ideology, and loyalty inside the administration’s evolving health policy machine.
READ NEXT: RFK Jr. Pushes For Whole Foods In Schools
Sounds like a wacky conspiracy theory.