Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been an omnipresent Trump campaigner in the three weeks since he ended his independent presidential campaign, pleading with his own devoted followers to back the former president, who promised to hire Kennedy upon his return to the White House.
The former lawmaker and right-wing figure Tulsi Gabbard is joining Kennedy on her tour.
They were met with a large number of ardent Trump fans in the Phoenix suburbs on Saturday night. Jacob Cutler was one of the handful who sported garments from the now-defunct Kennedy campaign. Cutler, a lifelong Kennedy fan, has endorsed Trump as the Democratic candidate’s best hope of defeating Vice President Kamala Harris.
Cutler, a 40-year-old who claimed to have voted for Democratic President Joe Biden four years ago, explained his decision to back Donald Trump: “I was concerned about what would happen if she won, and so that’s why I felt like I needed to support Donald Trump and help him win.” “The best option out of two bad ones, at least.”
By teaming up with the famous scion of a Democratic dynasty, the former Republican president of the United States, Donald Trump, can get the support of other Republicans and convey the impression that his campaign is appealing to voters of both parties. In areas like Arizona, where Biden was defeated by less than 11,000 votes in 2020, even a minimal number of Democrats shifting their support to Trump as a result of Kennedy’s endorsement could prove to be decisive.
A segment of the electorate that is notoriously difficult to persuade and inspire to cast ballots for Trump depends on their mistrust of established institutions such as the federal government, large businesses, and the news media. These voters lean on podcasts and YouTube videos as sources of news and information, and Kennedy and Gabbard are appealing to them.
In recent weeks, both Trump and Kennedy have pledged to “make America healthy again.” This is a play on Trump’s famous “Make America Great Again” slogan, which alludes to Kennedy’s repeated claims during his campaign that Americans are suffering from an epidemic of chronic illnesses and his support for vaccine myths.
On Saturday, during Trump’s campaign rally, Kennedy spoke to his relatives who had spoken out against his support of the president.
During his speech at Arizona Christian University, Kennedy expressed his belief that some individuals, including those in his own family who have betrayed him and former acquaintances who now view him with contempt and condemnation, are being subjected to a form of manipulation and a concerted attempt to drive a wedge between us. “Until they realize how much we’ve accomplished for them, those of us who are awake must defend the nation’s valuable assets without pursuing them.”
When partisans change sides, they frequently gain the respect of the activists who were critical of them before. This gives them more influence. They have the potential to become reliable messengers and surrogates in people’s lives.
A 62-year-old engineer from Bakersfield, California, named Henry Slayton, thought that Kennedy and Gabbard were a tremendous boost to Trump’s team. “This demonstrates that they are who they claim to be—representing the interests of the people, the American people, and not themselves.”
A son of John McCain, a Republican presidential candidate, and notable figures from the administration of former President George W. Bush are among Harris’s peculiar coalition of allies. of a surprising shift of perspective toward a lifetime conservative and ardent supporter of the Iraq War, progressives have even begun to applaud Bush’s vice president, Dick Cheney, for endorsing Harris.
As an anti-vaccine activist and environmental lawyer, Kennedy achieved fame on his own. He accused his party of plotting against him and eventually ran as an independent after challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination.
Throughout her four tenure in the House, Gabbard was notorious for taking stands that were opposed to the establishment within her own party. She gained the favor of leftists as an early and outspoken backer of Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 Democratic presidential primary campaign.
Instead of running for reelection in 2020, Gabbard campaigned for president on her own ticket, claiming that both Democrats and Republicans were equally to guilty for the destabilization of the Middle East, the threat it posed to the United States, and the loss of thousands of American lives. Despite losing the primary to Biden, she stayed in the contest long enough to criticize Harris’ record.
She used her knowledge to assist Trump in preparing for his debate with Harris. She and Kennedy have been entrusted with responsibilities during Trump’s presidential transition, which might grant them the power to influence the personnel decisions made by his administration and the policies implemented by the federal bureaucracy upon his return to the White House.
According to Gabbard, “We the people standing up for freedom” was spoken on Saturday. “This is about the people of this country taking a stand for peace.”
In the third year of a war that began with Russia’s invasion, Kennedy claimed that the United States should cease arming the Ukrainians. He claimed that the West had coerced Russian President Vladimir Putin into invading Ukraine by extending NATO. During the presidential debate on Tuesday, Trump dodged the question of how crucial he thinks it is for Ukraine to emerge victorious in the war.
Also, he made it seem like Trump’s dismissal of scientific evidence and expert opinion was commendable.
He expressed his sadness at seeing Trump sympathize with mothers who fear their children have been harmed by vaccines, despite the fact that most experts agree that the risks of immunizations for children are minimal compared to the benefits. He said Trump was free from “the entire establishment” and “the high priests of the orthodoxies.”
“I believe that reflects his character,” he remarked.
Kennedy is representing Children’s Health Defense, an organization that is suing multiple news outlets, including The Associated Press, for allegedly breaking antitrust laws by attempting to expose false information, particularly regarding COVID-19 and vaccines for the virus.