The soft drink industry is engaged in a large-scale influence operation targeting Republican lawmakers and influencers in an effort to protect profits amid the Trump Administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, according to a report by The Guardian.
The operation, already supported by right-wing billionaires like Charles Koch and several prominent MAGA influencers, is led by the American Beverage Association and the Consumer Brands Association, two trade groups that have significant buy-in from the top three soda makers: Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper, alongside companies like Nestle and Kraft Heinz.
The operation, The Guardian revealed after obtaining communications through a public records request, not only aims to disrupt the Trump admin’s MAHA initiative, but to do so by utilizing “MAGA-versus-MAHA messaging,” painting efforts to move away from the consumption of sodas and highly-processed foods as anti-MAGA.
One example of the operation took place back in March when Republican Utah House Rep. Kristen Chevrier was approached by lobbyists for the soda industry in an effort to convince her against pursuing an effort to prohibit federal food assistance dollars from being spent on soda and candy.
“[The lobbyists priority was] how much money they were going to lose if people stopped buying soda with Snap dollars,” Chevirier said, speaking with The Guardian.
“The lobbyists were sitting there at the table with me and I said: ‘Do you have any idea what this sounds like? That you’re more concerned about the money you’re going to lose than you are about the health of the vulnerable population that you’re serving?”
While the operation was unsuccessful in Chevirier’s case, the lobbying effort fared far better among several notable MAGA influencers, with many having condemned MAHA policies on social media earlier this year in accordance with the “pro-soda messaging’ pushed by the lobbyists, and without disclosing that they were paid to do so.
“Let people think and decide for themselves,” wrote right-wing influencer Eric Daugherty on social media, pushing back against the Trump administration’s effort to prohibit federal food assistance dollars being used on soda. “Anyone can consume soda and be perfectly fine, in moderation.”
After being exposed by conservative journalist Nick Sortor, Daugherty came clean.
“Yeah, that was dumb of me,” Daugherty admitted. “Massive egg on my face. In all seriousness, it won’t happen again.”