STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
President Trump nominated a new surgeon general - the official responsible for public health advisories. Dr. Nicole Saphier works at one of the nation's top cancer centers, and she's expected to be more acceptable to Republican lawmakers who had stalled the confirmation process for the previous pick. In a moment, we get an assessment from the surgeon general in Trump's first term. We begin with details of this nomination.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
NPR's Pien Huang is here to tell us more about her. Good morning, Pien.
PIEN HUANG, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So tell us about her. Who is Dr. Nicole Saphier?
HUANG: Yeah. So she is a medical doctor, a radiologist who focuses on breast cancer. She's director of breast imaging at a branch of Memorial Sloan Kettering in New Jersey. She's also a wellness influencer. She sells herbal supplements to promote focus and calm on Amazon. And she's a frequent Fox News medical contributor with a podcast called "Wellness Unmasked." In his nomination post on Truth Social, Trump described her as a star physician and an incredible communicator.
MARTIN: Which, I mean, being a communicator is pretty key for this role, right?
HUANG: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the surgeon general is tasked with promoting health-based, science-based measures that keep people healthy. Saphier talked about the job back in February on her podcast, and she said that the surgeon general's main role is public health messaging.
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NICOLE SAPHIER: They need the respect of not only the people, the American people that they are communicating to, but they also need the respect of the administration for which they are working together with to get that research and put out the messaging.
HUANG: Saphier also said that they need the respect of the medical establishment, and at the time, in her opinion, that's where the previous nominee, Dr. Casey Means, was falling short.
MARTIN: Well, say more about that. Why did Dr. Means' nomination get pulled, ultimately?
HUANG: Yeah. So the surgeon general position has been a whole saga for Trump. Saphier is Trump's third pick, and he withdrew his first nominee after scrutiny over how she represented her medical credentials. Next, he chose Dr. Casey Means, who doesn't have an active medical license. And at a confirmation hearing in February, she faced pushback from senators, including some Republicans, about her views on vaccines. She said that she believes vaccines save lives, but stopped short of encouraging parents to vaccinate their kids against measles and flu.
Now, yesterday, Trump called out Republican Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, saying that Cassidy stood in the way of Means getting confirmed. And in response, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, which Cassidy chairs, said on X that it was clear Means didn't have the votes.
MARTIN: Cassidy is a doctor, so, you know, he had thoughts. So where is Dr. Saphier on these issues?
HUANG: Well, she's kind of an originator of the Make America Healthy Again movement before Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took it on. It's actually the title of a book she published back in 2020. And David Mansdoerfer, who served as a health official in Trump's first term, says Saphier appeals to Republicans.
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DAVID MANSDOERFER: I think she's extremely strong on some of the core base issues, the pro-life issue. She's great on chronic disease and prevention. She speaks a lot to the MAHA influence, especially to the suburban moms.
HUANG: Now, Saphier's views on vaccines are a little murky. She's not against all vaccines - doesn't think they cause autism. But she's also said that she supports what she calls medical freedom and individuals choosing if and when to get vaccines. One thing that is clear is that she'll get lots of questions on that and on other topics in a confirmation hearing.
MARTIN: That's NPR's Pien Huang. Pien, thank you.
HUANG: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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