pushing vapes on kids was a core midterm issue for the White house

Mr. Means also described how some of his efforts to draft policies to make the food supply healthier were thwarted, such as one aimed at pushing the food industry to address whether the amount of sugar in children’s diets was appropriate.


“And that’s where Susie told me we can’t do that,” Mr. Means said. “‘I need the sugar industry money.’”


Mr. Means also said that Dr. Marty Makary, the former F.D.A. commissioner, was “pounded” in numerous meetings to approve flavored e-cigarettes, which James Blair, a former deputy of Ms. Wiles, framed as “a core midterm issue.”


Dr. Makary left the agency in May over the disputes on the matter. Mr. Means said that Dr. Overton did what Dr. Makary would not: “She wrote up a policy to relax standards on fruit-flavored vapes.”