Donald Trump is going back to his roots as a former Democrat. Rather than simply recruiting classic conservatives who are already in his coalition, he is broadening his base by putting RFK and Tulsi Gabbard as transition team members. America’s News Desk says:
Donald Trump appears to be putting action behind his promise to build a broader coalition to defeat Kamala Harris in November.
Over the past week, the former president has landed two coveted endorsements from former Democrats. Last Friday, Robert Kennedy Jr. announced that he would be suspending his campaign and would travel the country campaigning for the Republican president.
Then, on Monday, former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard announced she, too, would back Trump, citing his foreign policy and goals to prevent the United States from entering more wars.
Now, Trump has put both in important positions for his future presidency, writes The New York Times.
Donald J. Trump plans to name his former rival, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard, a one-time Democrat, as honorary co-chairs of a presidential transition team that will help him select the policies and personnel of any second Trump administration, according to a campaign senior adviser.
Mr. Kennedy, who ended his independent campaign for president and endorsed Mr. Trump on Friday, described his transition role briefly in an interview that aired Monday.
“I’ve been asked to go on the transition team, you know, and to help pick the people who will be running the government,” Mr. Kennedy told Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, in an interview posted on X.
It’s unclear what exactly she and Mr. Kennedy will do in their transition roles, but they will join Mr. Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as his running mate, Senator JD Vance, as honorary chairs of the transition team.
Trump recently, reluctantly, announced the formation of his transition team last week.
The RFK, Jr.endorsement has particularly rankled Democrats, who have respondedwith attacks launched by his family and desperate moves to keep him on the ballot against his wishes.
In Michigan, for example, despite previous efforts to remove Kennedy from the ballot, the Democrat in charge of elections, Jocelyn Benson, has announced that she will not abide by the candidate’s wishes and allow him to withdraw.
In a galling example of how Democrats will do anything to manipulate votes, writes New Conservative Post, Benson has shown a willingness to bend rules in order toprotect Harris. Earlier in the week, she fought to keep liberal academic Cornell West from appearing on the ballot, weaponizing technicalities against the independent candidate in a move that was only resolved after a judge forced her to stop meddling with the ballot.
“One day later, Benson did the exact opposite of what she tried to do for West, revealing she has no principle about ballot access outside of what benefits her party. On Tuesday, the Secretary of State announced that she would not fulfill Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to remove himself from the ballot in the battleground state.”
While Trump needs to turn out his base, he also needs to broaden his coalition if he wants to win. By targeting former Democrats who do not believe the Left’s orthodoxy, the Trump coalition could have a chance to win.
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