Former President Donald Trump’s campaign confirmed Tuesday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard are on his presidential transition team.
“As President Trump’s broad coalition of supporters and endorsers expands across partisan lines, we are proud that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard have been added to the Trump/Vance Transition team,” campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes said in a statement to The Epoch Times. “We look forward to having their powerful voices on the team as we work to restore America’s greatness.”
The announcement was made after Kennedy said Trump had made the offer if the Republican presidential candidate wins another term in office.
Kennedy suspended his independent presidential bid last week and announced he is backing Trump, adding that his name would remain on ballots in states where it is not likely that his candidacy will impact the outcome of the election. He joined the former president in a rally in Arizona last week.
Later in the interview, Kennedy was asked about what his plans are now that his campaign has effectively ended.
“I’m going to work to get him elected, and, you know, I’m working with the campaign. We’re working on policy issues together,” he said in response.
“And I’m going to fight,” Kennedy said. “I don’t know what would happen to me if we lose.”
After Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race in July, some polls suggested that Kennedy may have pulled some voters from Trump. Kennedy, the son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, also faced legal challenges against his name appearing on ballots in several states.
Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who ran for president in 2020, on Monday said she is backing Trump for his White House bid. Her announcement was made alongside Trump at an event in Detroit.
She praised Trump for “having the courage to meet with adversaries, dictators, allies and partners alike in the pursuit of peace, seeing war as a last resort,“ adding that the United States is ”facing multiple wars on multiple fronts in regions around the world and closer to the brink of nuclear war than we ever have been before.”
“The 2024 GOP Platform to Make America Great Again is a forward-looking agenda that will deliver safety, prosperity and freedom for the American people,” the Trump campaign said in a statement in mid-August.
“My administration will deliver on these bold promises. We will restore strength, competence and common sense to the Oval Office. I have absolute confidence the Trump-Vance Administration will be ready to govern effectively on Day One.”
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and health advocate, entered the 2024 race as a Democratic challenger to President Joe Biden’s reelection bid before he switched to run as an independent months later. Voter interest in Kennedy waned over the summer after Trump survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally and Biden dropped out, making the way for Harris.
During their rally in Arizona, Trump accepted Kennedy’s endorsement and also pledged to create a commission that would release the remainder of files pertaining to the assassination of Kennedy’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy at the rally proclaimed that Trump would “make America healthy again” and he would be a president “who is going to protect us against totalitarianism.”
Over the past weekend, however, several members of Kennedy’s family were critical of his endorsement of Trump, saying in a widely circulated letter that it goes against the family’s values.
On Sunday, Kennedy told Fox News, “My family is at the center of the Democratic Party,” adding that he understands why they are “troubled by his decisions.”
“I feel like we were raised in a milieu where we were encouraged to debate each other, and debate ferociously and passionately about things and still love each other,” he added. “They’re free to take their positions on these issues. There are many, many members of my family working at my campaign and who are supporting me.”
