MAGA Guru Wants Trump to Bribe Americans to Lose Weight
A radical plan by a former Trump aide seeks to encourage obese Americans to lose weight—by helping their wallet.
Robert P. Charrow, who served at the Department of Health and Human Services as general counsel during Trump’s first round in office, proposed that the new administration should trial weight loss tactics at one of America’s unhealthiest states: West Virginia.
The lawyer wrote in STAT News that if the state can get their obesity rates down from 40 percent to under 25 percent, residents would get individual federal income tax breaks for up to five years.
“American ingenuity is at its peak when avoiding federal income tax,” Charrow wrote. “This proposal harnesses that ingenuity allowing the rest of us to learn from West Virginia’s experience.”
West Virginia currently has the highest obesity rate in the country: In 2023, about four out of 10 of its residents were obese. Other states like Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas aren’t trailing far behind, however.
Colorado and Hawaii rank in some of the lowest obesity rates in the country at 24.9 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively.
Charrow said that the tax breaks wouldn’t cost as much as the federal healthcare system is currently paying for their health needs.
“Transforming a fat West Virginian into a svelte one would dramatically reduce those Medicare and Medicaid costs,” Charrow continued. “And improve corporate productivity within the state leading to greater corporate tax revenues.”
Obesity increases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, some cancers and more.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s choice for the health secretary nomination, said in December that the “first line of response should be lifestyle.”
But across the country, American’s have been become increasingly interested in weight loss drugs—otherwise known as GLP-1s. Last year, data showed that about 1 in 8 adults have used the drug, including the likes of Ozempic and Wegovy.
“To many, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears to advocate positions that are contrary to scientific orthodoxy, but there’s one area where he and his critics largely agree,” Charrow said. “Healthier eating leads to a healthier population.”
