The piece was titled “Why Are Americans So Obsessed With Protein? Blame MAGA” by Keziah Weir. In this article, Weir highlights the “manosphere” culture influenced by figures like President Donald Trump and supported by popular personalities such as podcast host Joe Rogan and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement.

Now, within a weakening economy, following progress and setbacks for women’s rights through the #MeToo movement and its backlash (including the reversal of Roe v. Wade), along with advancements in marriage equality and representation for queer and trans individuals—there is a related “anti-woke” backlash. This situation includes the potential for Trump’s second term, MAHA, and what menswear critic Derek Guy describes as the “slim-fit revolution” within the male influencer community.

Weir ends her article with a curious remark, saying, “Whether our current protein craze brings us to an unexpected encounter with enlightenment or leaves us on the ground as gunfire echoes nearby, is yet to be determined.”

Honestly, I’m unsure what the author is trying to say with that last sentence. It’s not like the popular Atkins diet hasn’t existed for two decades. I am sure it is some veiled liberal attempt to blame so-called right-wing extremism on protein.

The headline did not escape social media users who blasted the piece as outdated and dumb, among other things.

Outspoken female sports advocate Riley Gaines shared a screenshot of the article and wrote sarcastically on X, “Lifting weights and drinking protein shakes makes you an extremist btw.”

“Vanity Fair doing their part to help convert Democrats to Republicans,” another person joked.

“The @VanityFair protein article by Keziah Weir might be the dumbest article ever written. Everyone associated with that pile of garbage should be ashamed,” a third person wrote.

Another person’s comment read, “This is undeniably one of the dumbest, most hate inspired screeds I’ve ever seen. The hard left (ie Vanity Fair & their supplicants) want you drugged, sick and sterile. What a sad, pathetic existence this must be.”