Calley Means and James Blair Trade Threats as Their MAGA Feud Spills Into Public View

A bitter political dispute between Calley Means and James Blair has moved from public accusations to private messages, according to texts reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The exchanges came as Means blamed President Donald Trump’s advisers for stalling policies associated with the Make America Healthy Again movement and for contributing to Republican losses in the midterms. Means, a former senior adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has criticized Blair, who previously served as a White House deputy chief of staff and later took charge of Republican midterm strategy. In interviews with Joe Rogan and CBS News, Means accused Blair of backing the fruit-flavored vape industry, a claim Blair has denied. Means also said Susie Wiles told him she needed support from sugar industry figures to help win the midterms. The leaked messages show Blair warning Means that he would respond if Means tried to damage him. “If you are gonna try to knife me, I’m happy to return the favor,” Blair wrote, according to the report. Blair also accused Means of making public allegations that were, in his view, unfounded. Means replied by asking him to identify anything he had said that was factually inaccurate. Blair then raised the prospect of a defamation case, writing that he believed he could show malice and harm. In a statement to the Journal, Blair said he was considering suing Means, describing the accusations of corruption as false and defamatory. Means, meanwhile, said on X that he might pursue legal action against Blair and Wiles to obtain communications related to the alleged lobbying efforts. The dispute centers on competing accounts of how political strategy, health policy and nicotine-industry decisions intersected. Blair denied that approving fruit-flavored vapes was a central midterm issue or that he acted as an intermediary to speed up FDA responses to industry applications. The article reports allegations and denials from the two men; it does not establish that either man’s claims are true.