Trump adds RFK Jr., whom he once called a “lunatic, to the transition team

“President Trump’s broad coalition of supporters and supporters extends across partisan lines, we are proud that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard have been added to the Trump/Vance transition team,” said Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to Trump , in a statement. “We look forward to having their strong voices on the team as we work to restore America’s greatness.”

Kennedy’s addition is particularly notable given that he and Trump battled on the campaign trail before the renowned vaccine skeptic abandoned his third-party presidential campaign.

“Don’t lose any Republican or Conservative votes with Junior.” He is one of the craziest liberals to ever run for office,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform, in May.

Trump and his allies stepped up their attacks on Kennedy after polls began to show that Kennedy could erode Trump’s support. Kennedy once said that if he were to debate Trump, he would “show how President Trump has betrayed the hopes of his most loyal supporters.”

“He promised to end the war in Ukraine and then colluded with President Johnson and President Biden to fund it,” Kennedy wrote on X. “He let Big Pharma and its corrupt bureaucrats develop him as president. He promised to reduce the deficit and had the largest debt in history.”

Gabbard, who briefly ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, was also critical of Trump before drifting away from the Democratic Party in recent years. In 2018, Gabbard criticized Trump’s closeness to Saudi Arabia, tweeting: “Being a Saudi whore is not ‘America First.’ At the time, Democrats in Congress criticized the then-president’s rapprochement with Saudi Arabia after his assassination. journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

As he ended his third-party race on Friday, Kennedy said he and Trump disagreed on some major issues. He added that their alliance would be like President Lincoln’s famous “Team of Rivals,” referring to how Lincoln filled his cabinet with former political enemies.

“In those meetings, he suggested that we join forces as a party of unity,” Kennedy said, discussing his private conversations with Trump and his advisers that preceded the official endorsement.

Kennedy first mentioned joining the transition during an interview with Tucker Carlson. Trump announced his transition team earlier this month, naming former SBA Administrator Linda McMahon and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as co-chairs. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican presidential candidate, and Trump’s oldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric, are honorary co-chairs

Trump’s team hopes that by including former Democrats, he can broaden his appeal before the November election. Vice President Kamala Harris gave prominent speaking slots at her convention to Republicans, including former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.

It is far from unprecedented for politicians to support someone they once criticized. President Joe Biden tapped Harris to be his running mate after Harris broke his history of race relations. Trump tapped Vice President Mike Pence to join him after Pence endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz, Trump’s primary foe in 2016.