Jillian Michaels says Trump team sent her Smithsonian ‘defund’ list not about slavery
"I reached out to the administration actually,'cause I knew the press secretary then. And I'm like, can you guys tell me what in particular, before I go on CNN and run into a buzzsaw here, what in particular is the administration taking umbrage with? And they sent me this huge PDF with all of these exhibits and not one Not one of them was about slavery."
About this episode
Coleman Hughes interviews fitness trainer and media personality Jillian Michaels about her shift from health programming into culture-war and political commentary, which she attributes to disputes over obesity, ‘healthy at any size’, and youth gender medicine. Michaels describes leaving California in 2021 and offers a wide-ranging critique of Democratic governance, including unverified claims about election administration and COVID-era school closures; she also recounts a burglary at her home and a subsequent criminal case in which she says police questioned her after the suspect accused her of organising robberies.
The conversation turns to Michaels’s contentious CNN appearance about Smithsonian funding, where she says she obtained a Trump administration PDF listing exhibits it opposed and argues the dispute was not primarily about slavery displays. Hughes and Michaels also discuss how slavery is taught and why narratives of collective blame can fuel racial antagonism.
On health policy, Michaels gives a mixed assessment of the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ agenda around RFK Jr, praising changes she says affect dietary guidelines and food assistance while criticising what she portrays as industry wins, including protections for Monsanto over glyphosate. The pair debate vaccine scepticism and the difference between questioning parts of the schedule and rejecting vaccination broadly. Michaels also argues GLP-1 weight-loss drugs should be reserved for high-risk patients under medical supervision, and closes with a discussion of ageing, muscle loss, and hormone replacement therapy.
Key takeaways
- Michaels says ‘woke’ norms made it harder to talk publicly about obesity as a health risk and pushed her into politics.
- She alleges California law changes extended election vote certification timelines and weakened voter identification requirements (claims not evidenced in the episode).
- Michaels recounts a home burglary and says the suspect’s allegations led to her being questioned by police; she describes a hung jury before the suspect was jailed.
- She says the Trump administration sent her a PDF of Smithsonian exhibits it objected to, and claims none were about slavery.
- Michaels describes MAHA as mixed: praising dietary-guideline and healthcare-administration reforms while criticising purported protections for Monsanto over glyphosate.
- Hughes and Michaels argue that simplified racial narratives about slavery can worsen present-day racial polarisation.
- Michaels argues GLP-1 drugs carry serious risks and should not be used for ‘vanity’ weight loss; she recommends close medical supervision and cautious dosing.