Charles Eisenstein was an advisor to and chief speechwriter for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2024 presidential campaign. Now, he and others who support the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement are speaking out against the Iran war.
Eisenstein and colleagues, some of whom worked alongside the current Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary during his independent presidential campaign the last election cycle, jointly crafted a petition earlier this week anchored by a deliberate message: “Health Not War!”
“We remind our representatives in Washington that, though the halls of power may insulate them personally, war will bring economic chaos, higher debt and deeper poverty to ordinary Americans; that our soldiers will face injury and death; and that countless innocents of Iran and other nations will perish in the brutal hell called war,” the petition reads.
Finally, we remind members of Congress that a great nation leads by example, not by force; by conscience, not by coercion. As we wage violence and terror abroad, we ask, ‘Is this the great nation we want to be?’
Eisenstein told Military.com that two slogans primarily connected Kennedy with his most ardent supporters: one was ‘Heal the divide,’ and the other was ‘End the forever wars.”
“That is what galvanized people left, right and center to turn our attention to building our own nation from within, using that $8 trillion that we'd spent on regime change wars to rebuild our infrastructure, our middle class, etc. and to return the military to its proper function of defending the homeland rather than, furthering an imperial agenda,” Eisenstein said.
Absconding on the anti-war rhetoric that less than three years ago galvanized a strong contingent, notably of independent voters, has deafened what Eisenstein described as “a big rallying cry.”
A lot of people who followed Kennedy fervently believe in that principle. So, when [President Donald] Trump, contrary to his own campaign promises, got us into a new war, people were very upset.”
Military.com reached out to HHS for comment.
Congressional Opposition Will 'Take Time'
The “Health Not War!” petition that went live on March 2 has already garnered thousands of signatures, according to Eisenstein. He deemed it more of a “trial run” than a grand symbolic gesture, aimed to spread awareness and a message.
“[MAHA] cares about health and also about peace,” he said. “It's kind of hypocritical to care about the health of our own children and not the health of children who are getting bombed. They're just as much children of God as we are.”
In his 2023 Executive Power Survey, Kennedy said the following regarding the limitations of presidential war-making, according to the New York Times: "Except in cases of imminent danger to the nation, a president must be constrained in war-making through the check and balance of congressional authority."
Part of current MAHA efforts denouncing military action overseas involved encouraging Congress to pass a war powers resolution, providing legislative oversight to the executive branch. However, the resolution failed on Wednesday in the Senate by a 53-47 mostly party line vote, and then Thursday in the House by a 219-212 vote again along party lines.
The GOP controls both chambers and thwarted Democrats’ attempts to rein in strikes in the Middle East that began Feb. 28.
I wasn't surprised. I think that the work we have to do is going to take more time—the consequences of this war, they'll take a little time to be felt and the opposition will grow.
“Congress people that are showing leadership on this now will be vindicated and will really step into leadership of our country toward a different direction, toward authentic greatness," he added.
Link Between Mental and Physical Health, and War
The petition also ties Americans “who care deeply about the health of our nation: both its physical health of its people, and the moral health of its conduct in the world.” They say both are related, and that “neither can stand without the other.”
“This principle that operates on the individual level also operates on a national level,” he said. “It's a perfect mirroring. … It's not because we're bad people, and it's not because our military is full of bad people, but our country has perpetrated a lot of injustice abroad over the last few decades—a lot of violence, a lot of oppression.
Eisenstein correlated that message with Americans’ focus and priorities, saying that the United States has neglected its proverbial health by masking its own history in certain regards.
“It comes back through whatever fortress walls you have, it seeps underneath the walls, and we experience it as civil violence, as domestic violence. It enters our streets, it enters our homes, even violence towards ourselves, suicides, depression, addiction."
This is kind of departing from ordinary political language, but I think [it’s] many people feeling not being aligned with what we're doing collectively.
'Anti-MAHA, Anti-MAGA' Agenda
Others affiliated with or who supported the Kennedy presidential campaign have, like Eisenstein, spoken out against the war in the Middle East.
“Assassinating a head of state is illegal under U.S. law,” Meryll Nass, a doctor and scientific advisor to Children’s Health Defense, said in a statement shared with Military.com. “Starting a war is illegal under the UN Charter. Both are morally repugnant.
“This anti-MAHA, anti-MAGA war only makes the defense industry, the energy industry and the bankers great again. It does nothing for the American people.”
David Murphy, founder of United We Eat Action Fund, served as Kennedy’s former finance director. He called the current moment “critical” for Republicans, saying they require a reminder “that putting America First also means putting the Constitution first.”
“The president commands the military, but Congress alone decides when the nation goes to war,” Murphy said in a statement shared with Military.com. “When hostilities proceed without congressional authorization or an attack on the United States, honoring Congress’s constitutional role is essential to preserving democratic accountability for future generations.”
It’s not an anti-Trump message, Eisenstein assured, acknowledging that he agrees with some of the current administration’s policies. Others, like more recent environmental-based decisions, haven’t drawn enthusiasm.
“There's many things I could complain about,” he said. “But right now, this whole ‘which side are you on’ way of thinking is tearing this country apart. It focuses us so much more on our divisions than on the broad moral values that unite us.
“I really am averse to condemning human beings as opposed to condemning policies.”
