The Highwire with Del Bigtree - PEOPLE VS POISON

Episode Date: March 3, 2026

“Food Babe” Vani Hari joins Del to expose what she calls a make-or-break moment for the food movement. With 180,000 cancer lawsuits, billions already paid out, and a lobbying machine entrenched in D.C., she warns Bayer is pushing toward Supreme Court immunity to avoid future liability. After a decade battling Monsanto, Vani says the window to act is closing—and is organizing a massive rally at the U.S. Supreme Court on April 27, 2025, “People vs. Poison,” to mobilize the public before it’s too late.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-highwire-with-del-bigtree--3620606/support.

It's been a really wild week, I think, in many ways. I don't know if you're feeling it. Maybe it's just me, but it does feel like there's some big tectonic plates shifting below the feet of the Maha movement. Of course, the biggest move and perhaps the most shocking and surprising was this conversation about glyphosate that broke loose because of an executive order by President Trump. This was it promoting the national defense by ensuring an adequate supply of elemental phosphorus and the cancer-causing glyphosate-based herbicides. Of course, I added that last part myself. I feel like I have to, since that's about the only thing we've ever said about this product.

And I've been investigating it long before the high wire, even back on the doctor's television show when I was a producer, I hosted a debate over what I think is one of the most toxic products on Earth should not be on our food supply. So suddenly he's saying it was in the public's interest, really national security interest to stockpile this poison was a little shocking to me. I don't think I was the only one, though. This is what the news had to say about it. President Trump has expedited production of a key ingredient in the weed killer Roundup. Trump signed the order last night. He invoked the Defense Production Act saying the herbicide is critical to economic and national security.

The chemical is described in the order as essential to maintaining crop yields and controlling costs. On Tuesday, Bayer agreed to propose $7.25 billion settlement to resolve thousands of lawsuits from people who say the product cause their cancer. Bayer denies claims and says it is safe when used as directed. The problem is that it's so widely used and has been sold as being non-toxic and safe has been repeatedly reapproved for use. but in actuality, tied to a number of different diseases. This doesn't just affect farmers. This is omnipresent. They would probably find it in yours and my urine right now if they tested for it.

I was really surprising to see this statement made on a product that has been doing so poorly in courtrooms around America. Tens of billions of dollars in losses in multiple cases, proving things like it causes non-Hodgkins lymphoma for people that are handling it. God knows what it's doing inside of our stomachs. But even HHS Secretary Kennedy weighed in on the conversation. This is what he put out in a post on X. I will always tell the American people the truth. Pesticides and herbicides are toxic by design, engineered to kill living organisms. When we apply them across millions of acres and allow them in our food system, we put Americans at risk. Chemical manufacturers have paid tens of billions of dollars to settle cancer claims linked to their products, and many agriculture communities report elevated cancer rates

and chronic disease. Unfortunately, our agricultural system depends heavily on these chemicals. The U.S. represents 4% of the world's population, yet we use roughly 25% of its pesticides. If these inputs disappeared overnight, crop yields would fall, food prices would surge, and America would experience a massive loss of farms, even beyond what we are witnessing today. The consequences would be disastrous. support. President Trump's executive order to bring agricultural chemical production back to the United States and end our near total reliance on adversarial nations. His EO protects two pillars

of national strength, our defense readiness and our food supply, when hostile actors control critical inputs. They directly threaten the security of the American people. The Trump administration will secure these supply chains to eliminate that vulnerability. All right, so from that, I get the sense that bear must be saying if you, you know, don't stockpile this, we might just stop making it. There seems to be a threat on farming across America. Very complicated issue. And I wanted to talk to, you know, I've been, I'll tell you, I've been talking to lots of newspapers are reaching out to me, obviously, because I was a part of Robert Kennedy Jr.'s campaign

for president. And they're asking me what I think, you know what they keep asking me is? What do the maha moms think? So I thought I would bring in one of the power Maha moms here in America. Vani Hari joins me now. Vani, you know, you're up there at the top of the list of the Maha moms, and I'm sure you're getting these calls too. What do the Maha moms think about stockpiling glyphosate in the national interest of America?

We are more unified than ever at this very moment. in understanding how much our government is under siege at every single level by this company bear, bear through a hand grenade right into our movement to shake us up, to take our eye off the ball, to make this political, honestly. And it is important for people to recognize and understand that glyphosate has increased over every single president in our nation. It was the issue that I rose when I campaigned for President Obama and was an elected delegate and was on the front row of the DNC protesting for GMO labeling in front of the Secretary of Agriculture. It's the same issue that landed me at the top of a hit list

that was a privately funded and government funded database to docks my information and to make me an enemy of bear so bad that I had paid detractors. I had people following me to my speaking engagements. I had people trying to discredit me and my credibility. This runs, this is something that I have been watching and been part of for over a decade and seeing the insiduous relationship that this company has with our government leaders, with every single branch of government, how they spend over $9 million that's tracked.

I think it's a lot more than that. That's actually tracked on lobbying just in the last few years, how they have 16 different people in the admin that have ties to, to this company, how there are 25 to 40 lobbyists just working on their issues alone in Washington and in and out of our government agencies, defining how the government agencies respond

to things that they are responsible for. And now I think the most important thing that this has taught me is that there is nobody in government that is going to come to our rescue, that we the people have to do this. We have to rise up. We have to educate as many people about what's happening in Washington on this issue, on the fact that Bear

will do whatever they can to cover up over, you know, they have 180,000 cancer lawsuits since 2018, They've already paid out $10 billion. More than 60 cases are pending. And this is a chemical that has been found in 60% of our food that is sprayed on wheat before it is harvested. And this is something that they are attacking every branch of government. They got the EO this week through President Trump, but they're also. trying to get favoritism in the Supreme Court by getting the Solicitor General to defend their case.

They are trying to do state legislation. They have 21 different states through the met, what they call it the modern ag alliance group, that they are pushing for immunity for the products causing cancer in 21 different states. Let's really quickly, Bonnie, I just want to point out, we're looking at this on the screen. This is from bear themselves. This is their measures that glass and what they're focused on. Their number one goal is to seek a positive ruling for the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court is looking at giving them liability protection, just like vaccines, where you could never sue them for the cancers that would end all of these court losses. Then number two, engage with policymakers for clarity outside the courtroom, continue to manage current

cases, new lawn and garden formulations for the U.S. Safety Study webpage. I mean, down the list, maybe make a better product. You know, is that somewhere between four. and 10, but first is why don't we just protect ourselves from liability for this product? And look, Bonnie, it's not like they just suddenly got shocked. Oh my God, we didn't know this product causes cancer. This has been being litigated since back before. When I was working on the doctor's television show, I did this over 10 years ago. So for 10 years, Monsanto's had an opportunity to improve this product, work out the issues

that are being discovered in courtrooms where we see the internal memos where, you know, you got Donna Farmer, head of toxicology, came onto my show on the doctors saying, oh, it's perfectly safe. And then we see the emails where she's saying the exact opposite inside of court documents where they're saying they do know that this product, you know, causes cancer. And so how are we in this place now? And why now? Why while Robert Kennedy Jr.'s HHS secretary and you had Trump that was really seemed to understand the power of the Maha vote. This really is, I think, shocking that Bear would make this move. It looks like some sort of, we're going to pull this product from the market unless you protect us right now.

They are making a real push going to the Supreme Court. I would have thought they would have waited, but it just doesn't, I think to your point, is it just they're so big and so arrogant they just don't think it matters that the people, don't matter? I don't think they've seen the power yet of the people. And I think this is a true inflection point in our food movement. We really have to come together on this. This cannot be a left-right issue right now.

I agree. The entire food movement needs to organize and tell our stories and tell the voice of what this company is doing to our farmland, to our farmers, to our future, to our children. children's future. And the fact that one Supreme Court case that, you know, a Missouri man sued Monsanto saying Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. And then the company basically failed to warn about the cancer risk. And so that's what was decided. And a jury awarded him like a million dollars, right? And this is what's at the Supreme Court. So if the Supreme Court decides that the EPA is the ultimate authority.

And because they approved a label without a cancer warning label that Monsanto should get away with this, they shouldn't be responsible for this cancer-causing chemical that they have on the market. This has an implication to 50,000 plus chemicals that the EPA regulates. And so I don't know if the American people or even, you know, I understand what kind of implication that has for our future, allowing corporations to systematically poison us using flawed procedures and underfunded agencies that don't have the capability to look at third party data, that they get the data straight from the manufacturer to make these decisions, and to make them the ultimate authority and not to give states the right to hold these companies accountable.

I mean, this is, this is the moment that if we want to stop being poisoned as American people, we have to stand up to this. We can, we have to say this is not okay. It's not okay to have an executive order that puts a chemical like this at national priority. There's got to be a different way. It's not okay for the solicitor general to side with a chemical corporation. It's okay for the government to side with farmers. I understand farmers have a complicated issue. They need access.

They need to be able to keep farming. But we need to provide them with true policies on where they can off ramp off these chemicals because we know they cause cancer. We need the EPA to tell the truth and say that this product causes cancer. They had the opportunity to do this 10 years ago, but they chose not to. They chose instead to use ghostwritten Monsanto science to make their determination, which has now been retracted. Right? And so there is an inflection point where people that have never been involved in Washington, like myself, are now in Washington going, what in the world is going on? The fact that having this amazing movement that has created people that now care about policy and specific issues and what congressmen are doing and senators and calling all of their state legislators to get these amazing bills done to remove artificial.

food dies and get junk food off snap bills and to get chemicals out of our food and ultra-processed foods removed from schools, all of that has created an army of people that are now involved in the government that have never been before. And now our eyes are becoming wide open to the corruption that is occurring there. And we have to get louder than we ever gotten before. And so I can't think of anything more important than this very moment. where we now have the EO, we have the Supreme Court case. We have the farm bill on Monday that's being marked up and talked about where senators think it's okay to give these pesticide companies immunity.

And then we have all the different state legislation that's happening. And so it's too much. It's an attack on every single branch of government. And I think what has been really interesting for almost like the first time, ever I'm seeing in Washington, people talk about this issue like never before. Thomas Massey did an impassioned plea on the Congress floor this week. I hope you have it because it is absolutely incredible what he's doing. We do. Let's take a listen right now, Vonie. Take a listen. Here we go. Madam Speaker, I rise today to let the American people know that this government is under siege.

All three branches of this government is under siege by lobbyists and lawyers from a German company named Bear. They spent over $9 million lobbying the executive branch and the legislative branch so that they don't have to be liable for any damages that their herbicide causes, otherwise known as Roundup. And they're having some success. Now they haven't had any success yet in this chamber to get that immunity. They've had some success in the state legislatures, which are also under siege to get this immunity from liability. Look, the Constitution guarantees people a trial if they've been harmed. Why are we contemplating going against the Constitution? The Attorney General has opined favorably for this German company in front of the Supreme Court

about getting rid of any liability that they should have for any damages. And the most recent thing that we've seen, the executive branch. By the way, the President's Chief of Staff and the President's Attorney General worked for one of the biggest lobbying firms that's received hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars from Bayer. And maybe that's why we've seen an executive order that says that the production of this chemical from this German company is a national defense priority. And we know why they're doing that. It's to keep them from having any liability. Everybody in this country deserves their day in court. This is wrong.

We shouldn't succumb to the lobbyists, not in the executive branch, not in the judicial branch, and certainly not here in Congress and not in the state legislatures, but there's a lot of money at play. And I implore my colleagues to resist it and do not give them immunity. You know, it seems like Massey really is foreseeing something we've been warning about here on the high wire. I do think this is all leading towards immunity, particularly. We've seen this game played out before to the letter. He's talking about the people very close to President Trump. You know, who, you know, who's you referencing when he's saying?

Is Attorney General, was it part of a lobbying firm for Bear? Have you looked into sort of these contacts very close inside of the White House that have been friends of Bear for, you know, years, if not decades? Yeah, I mean, there was an amazing investigative report that came out. this week. You know, I, I'm trying to put the puzzle pieces together. I'm having conversations in Washington's at the highest level to find out what exactly happened behind this EO. Nobody can figure out. It literally happened between President Trump and in someone else and are a couple of other people behind closed doors. And that's it. Nobody knows anything. And that's really, really troubling to me.

Also, I've found out that basically, you know, we have a situation where our government is colluding with bear. And we've seen this in the past, in past evidence with the dealings with the EPA. I think we were, I've seen things happen with the Maha Commission Report and how the initial Maha Commission Report had several references to pesticides in it and why, you know, those could be. implicated to cause cancer, but in the recommendations for how to implement that Maha Commission report, there was nothing said about pesticides, right? So I see the influence of these big agricultural companies like Bayer making their way into data that is coming out of our government. And if there is anything that I think is the most important thing of my role in all of this, is to bring light to what has happened and expose it all so that we can make sure that our

government leaders know we are eyes wide open going in this. We are going to pay attention to this issue that glyphosate is going to be the issue of 2026 because not because we made it the issue. It's because they made it the issue, right? I agree. I mean, this is something that trumps all of the other progress in the food movement. We don't really care about eating real food when it's being sprayed with glyphosate and Roundup. We do not care about all of the other progress that's made the day. And I'm not discounting what has happened because I think what has happened within the last year in our government, it has been more than we've ever expected to happen. We have more transparency, more truth coming out because of Secretary Kennedy's voice.

Yeah. But I can tell you this, that no matter who is in office, I will always tell the truth. And I will always fight for the people. And I will always fight for our children and fight for my children not to be poisoned. Well, I'm totally there with you. I'm glad I had you on because my ribs are still too sore to be as emphatic as you're being right now, Vani. I absolutely think you're right.

It doesn't matter who's in office. And frankly, this feels like one step forward, two steps back. We've had so much progress. But who cares about whole food if that whole food is covered in toxic chemicals? And I cannot sue the manufacturer. I cannot get. And then what happens to safety? Why does the product evolve?

Why change out the product if they can't be sued? Now you are stuck with these products. It's an amazing argument they're making. We lie to the EPA. We give them bogus data from both. focus studies that we fund ourselves. And if we manage to do a three-card Monty game with the EPA and have them say it safe, once they say that, we're safe forever. You can't get any new information. You can't find out that we lied to you. We are now exempt. We're immune. It's crazy. It cannot

happen. And Bonnie, you know, on one hand, maybe this is a huge mistake by the Trump administration. It certainly does, it seems unenlightened when you think of the power of the Maha vote. I'm not sure what that's going to do in this election coming up. But you know what I do love and it's always been. I've never really been political. When you say this political, in some ways this may be the greatest thing that ever happened because I think this crosses party lines. This may just be that topic that all of us can get back to talking to our loved ones with,

where we got divided over the election, who's good, who's bad. Well, one thing we know right now, Monsanto bad, Monsanto, bad, poisoning us. Can we all agree on this? It seems like it's time for a rally. It seems like it's time to step up and do something. Do you have any thoughts on that or plans on that with all this? It feels like we need to make our presence known. This court case that is going to the Supreme Court on April 27th will decide the future of

whether it is okay for chemical corporations to poison us, to systematically poison us, and get away with it. That is the moment that we have honestly been waiting for to come together in a, in a way that the world has never seen. And I have a vision that we will all go to the Supreme Court that day. It will be the people versus poison. And we will make our voices heard.

And the biggest grassroots movement the world has ever seen to stand up to this foreign corporation that is poisoning us and threatens all of the other chemicals that are gonna be approved by the EPA and all of the other assaults we're gonna have on the human body from people who are putting greed before humanity

and greed before our health. And it's up to us to make our voices loud and to prove to Washington that we will, you will deeply regret these decisions that you are making. This is not okay and you have to understand that we need to stop poisoning our American citizens. Wow, Bonnie, that sounds like breaking news. The people versus,

versus poison, Washington, D.C., April 27th. Vani will be there. I will be there. So that's two. Now let's build on that. Let's make this. I'm absolutely with you. This cannot go a step further. We can no longer live in this country where they keep pulling what I call the too big to fail. Let's bail out bear. Let's buy more of their products. Stockpile poison. Because God forbid, you know, our farmers have been addicted to this product. You know, farming, it's time to evolve. It's time for American citizens to come first. And by the way, I think all the American citizens will go out and help those farms. We want to see our taxpayer dollars go and immediately start moving all these farms in regenerative farming, organic, so that we know the food that we're

eating and that we're giving our children that's going into the baby food supply and all of it's being affected. I keep talking to holistic, you know, food makers. Like you cannot keep the heavy metals and poisons and toxins out of baby food because they're just, so many crops that are covered with this stuff. Savani, you've been a voice. I think this is a huge moment. And really, it's not political. This has always been the problem.

The government's never going to be the answer. If we don't step up and show, we are the people of four and by the people as the mandate of this country. And the government thinks that they can, you know, create safety clauses and protect giant corporations from liability and then keep us out of courtrooms, which is our right is Thomas Massey, you know, just stated that they've got another thing coming. I think this is going to be huge. And I really do think this is going to cross party lines. Yeah, I mean, I give an impassioned plea to every single person who has sat on their hands, but believed in this issue for the last

year because President Trump is the one leading the conversation on this issue or the Republicans are doing or because of the Maha movement. I have an impassioned plea for you. Help us stop the poisoning of our children. Let's all come together and let's show Washington that this movement, these voices of everyday moms and dads and people out there deserve to be heard and that we have an opportunity like we've never had before because of what's happening in the political climate but also what's happening at the Supreme Court to make our voices heard, to make the entire courtroom shake as Monsanto Bear is giving their arguments. That is what I want to see that day.

I want them to feel our energy in that courtroom, the rattling of our voices and the passion and the sheer might of the God Almighty people coming against this and saying, enough is enough. Vani, from your mouth to God's ears and the people's ears will be there. We're going to be there in huge numbers. Thank you for your passion. I'm sure we're going to cover this more as we get close to those dates. Marking your calendars, everybody, April 27th, People v. Poison.

Look, you don't want to be one of those people to say I wasn't there the moment the world changed, the moment the earth shook and the people stood up. Vani, we'll be in touch. Thank you for your passion. Thanks for joining us today.