Conservative Moms Claim: Ultra-Processed Foods Are Part of a Liberal Plot to Poison Us

Before the pandemic, Taylor Moran was a typical liberal mother living in Dallas who cast her vote for Bernie Sanders. However, the arrival of COVID-19 marked a turning point, leaving the 34-year-old disillusioned by what she perceived as the government's failure to protect her family. 'It was a lot of rules, a lot of hysteria, a lot of things that didn't make sense,' Moran told RNS.

Following an 'overnight spiritual experience' in early 2021, Moran converted to Christianity and relocated her family to rural Arkansas. As her religious faith deepened, so did her scepticism regarding the pharmaceutical industry, rigid educational structures and the concept of gender. While her current social media presence focuses on organic whole foods and her family's nature school rather than overt politics, her convictions are evident.

'I hear it's hard to be a man right now — but I know it's hard to be a boy,' she wrote in an October Instagram post. The accompanying video depicts her sons whittling and running barefoot through the woods. 'There's this widespread cultural effort to erase boyhood, to pretend there's nothing different about it, nothing special about it'.

The Rise of Christian Momfluencers in the Post-Pandemic Era

Moran represents a growing demographic of American mothers who, in the wake of COVID-19, began questioning institutions they previously trusted. Conservative women influencers have stepped into this void, blending polished aesthetics, religion and personal anecdotes to build authority on issues ranging from food safety to transgender athletes.

Figures such as political commentator Allie Beth Stuckey, anti-trans activist Riley Gaines Barker and Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) advocate Alex Clark are reshaping the landscape. By addressing maternal concerns and offering stability, these Christian momfluencers are creating a pathway for conservative political engagement, often framed as a spiritual battle.

Stuckey, 33, hosts the popular podcast Relatable, where she provides conservative commentary fused with Scripture. She is explicit in her view that battles over 'gender ideology' and abortion involve 'demonic forces'. Stuckey noted that the isolation of the pandemic created a deep need for connection among her audience.

'Post-COVID, a lot of people felt isolated. And post all of the events of 2020, a lot of Christian women felt like, oh my goodness, I'm alone,' Stuckey told RNS during an interview at her Share the Arrows conference in Texas last month. 'People really feared saying what they believed to be true, because they didn't want to be cancelled or condemned, or, you know, get their business taken away from them'.

For many, vaccine mandates served as the catalyst. Alex Clark, a wellness influencer based in Scottsdale, Arizona, found the mandates 'deeply unsettling'. Her suspicion of the COVID-19 vaccine, coupled with the FDA's role in the opioid crisis, eroded her trust in medical and government establishments.

Sociologist Katie Gaddini, author of the forthcoming book Esther's Army: The Christian Women Who Power the American Right, explains that pandemic scepticism, combined with reactions to the Black Lives Matter protests and Trump's election loss in 2020, caused widespread disillusionment. 'That shift has elevated the trust and the importance that is given to these forms of Christian conservative media figures,' Gaddini said.

How Christian Momfluencers Frame Politics as Spiritual Warfare

Trust is built through vulnerability and shared experience. Riley Gaines Barker, 25, links her activism to tying for fifth place with trans athlete Lia Thomas in a 2022 NCAA championship race. Clark cites her father's death from cancer and heart failure, which she believes was exacerbated by 'ultra processed foods', as a driver for her wellness advocacy.

'If you dive in a little bit deeper, they all have experienced issues that they're talking about,' said Gwyn Andrews, chapter president of Students for Life and TPUSA at the University of West Georgia. 'I think credibility is a big way that they are able to gain these massive amounts of followers'.

These influencers navigate a specific cultural space; they embrace traditional gender roles and femininity — evidenced by their makeup and barrel-curled hair — without identifying as 'trad wives'. 'I think we're beginning to see a shift away a little bit from the whole girl boss culture,' Gaines Barker told RNS.

This movement is underpinned by a belief system that views biblical interpretations as objective truth. In her 2024 book Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion, Stuckey argues that progressives manipulate empathy to compromise on biblical truths regarding gender and abortion. This framework has inspired women like Carolina Graver, 29, to enter local politics.

'When you get to the issue of, abortion is murder, and the Bible does say that being gay or acting on that impulse is a sin, then ... you have to be able to separate that empathy that you're feeling for that person from the truth,' said Graver.

Despite holding significant political power, these influencers view themselves as combatants in a spiritual war against Satan, fighting against the normalization of LGBTQ+ rights and what Clark describes as 'deeply demonic' conventional farming. This rhetoric has real-world consequences.

Legislation banning transgender students from sports consistent with their gender identity has passed in at least 27 states, with bills in West Virginia and Georgia named after Gaines Barker.

Clark believes that Christian momfluencers and the MAHA movement were instrumental in Trump's victory last fall. 'The MAHA moms are the most powerful political capital, if you will, that the GOP has,' Clark said. 'Nothing is politically more powerful than an angry mother'.

As political wins accumulate, the rhetoric has become bolder. Clark refers to hormonal birth control as poison, while Stuckey rejects social justice narratives. However, Sara Petersen, author of Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture, warns that dehumanizing rhetoric can justify dangerous policies.

'It's not that I think these individuals are going to assassinate someone, but I think their rhetoric does help support a lot of legislation and policies that are straightforwardly violent,' Petersen said. Nevertheless, for women within the movement, the shift is a sign of victory.

'I definitely do think it's a culture war, and I think that we're starting to get the upper hand finally,' Payton McNabb, a conservative activist injured during a volleyball match with a transgender player, told RNS. 'I'm very thankful to be a part of that shift'.

As the boundary between lifestyle content and political activism dissolves, the influence of these women on the American political landscape is undeniable. Whether viewed as a spiritual awakening or a radical shift in rhetoric, the phenomenon of the Christian momfluencer is a potent force that continues to gain momentum.