Trump’s third surgeon general pick is deleting old posts critical of president’s agenda and fitness

Dr Nicole Saphier, the third person nominated to be surgeon general by President Donald Trump, has been hurriedly deleting old social media posts critical of his administration, according to a report.

Saphier – a Fox News medical contributor, working radiologist, and author of books including Make America Healthy Again – was given the nod by Trump after the nominations of Dr Janette Nesheiwat and Dr Casey Means had to be withdrawn over a lack of congressional support.

However, CNN reports that, despite her MAGA leanings, the doctor posted a number of messages questioning the Trump administration’s policies on issues like autism and vaccines in 2025 and earlier this year.

The 44 year-old nominee also publicly questioned the president’s reassurances regarding his own wellbeing and fitness.

open image in gallery

Saphier has made her X account private but, the network points out, the deleted posts are still viewable via the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

In one example from last June, she derided Trump and Elon Musk over their very public falling out as the world’s richest man’s tenure in the White House came to an end.

She called their competing insults on rival social media platforms “petty, loud and obnoxious” and compared the feud to “watching two billionaires throw sand in a sandbox.”

Saphier was also incensed by the president’s warning to pregnant women against taking Tylenol to combat pain and fevers, citing unproven links to autism.

“As a mom of 3 kids, I don’t love a man telling me to ‘tough it out’ when it comes to pregnancy,” she wrote in September. “Words matter. Facts matter too.”

open image in gallery

When Trump reiterated his claims on Truth Social in October, Saphier said in response: “This isn’t the first or second time he has said this. Obviously something was said to POTUS behind closed doors and the public deserves transparency on the data presented to substantiate these statements.”

When the president revealed he had undergone an MRI scan that month but declined to say what for, she posted: “Lots of people questioning POTUS MRI – I have questions too.”

Saphier has more recently also been critical of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, writing in March: “The CDC vaccine schedule is in limbo, the status of [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] up in the air and no clear path forward.

“The system needed reform, but not chaos. The pendulum swung too far in the overhaul. Time for a measured reset, with transparency and data driven guidance.”

Also in March, she suggested Kennedy was concealing the scale of the recent U.S. measles outbreak.

“Seems like they may not want to admit the U.S. Measles elimination status is is [sic] gone until after midterm elections,” she wrote.

Responding, White House spokesman Kush Desai said: “Dr Nicole Saphier is an accomplished physician who has practiced radiology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering and has been an outspoken voice on breast cancer prevention, intrusive Covid-19 mandates, the politicization of science, and the federal government’s role in America’s chronic disease epidemic.

“She will be a powerful asset for President Trump and work tirelessly to deliver on every facet of his MAHA agenda.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies