Former President Donald Trump has announced that he will be adding two prominent former Democrats to his presidential transition team, marking a significant political realignment in favor of the former president.
As reported by Axios, both Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) will play a role in preparing for a second Trump term in the event of a victory in November. Both of them had recently endorsed Trump’s 2024 campaign, marking significant breaks from their previous political allegiance to the Democratic Party.
“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,” said Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes in a statement. “We look forward to having their powerful voices on the team as we work to restore America’s greatness.”
Kennedy announced the suspension of his independent bid for the presidency on Friday at a press conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Several hours later, he took the stage with President Trump at a rally in Glendale, officially announcing his endorsement of the 45th president and giving a brief speech outlining his policy goals for a second Trump term, including a greater emphasis on improving the collective health of young Americans.
On Monday, Gabbard appeared with President Trump at a National Guard conference in Detroit, Michigan, where she took the stage to announce her support for Trump’s campaign as well. Gabbard previously ran for president as a Democrat in the 2020 primaries, where her biggest impact was her clash with then-Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) during the second primary debate; then-Congresswoman Gabbard criticized Harris’ record as Attorney General of California and called out her numerous hypocritical statements and flip-flops, earning her thunderous applause from the debate audience. The moment was widely seen as the end of Harris’ bid for the presidency, which had just been experiencing a surge.
Kennedy had briefly run as a Democratic candidate in the 2024 primaries before dropping out in 2023 to switch to an independent campaign. Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022 and became an independent.
In addition to her role on the transition team, Gabbard has also been helping President Trump prepare for the upcoming debate with Harris on September 10th, acting as the stand-in for the vice president.
Others who have been announced as lead members of the transition team include top donors Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon, the latter of whom served as Administrator of the Small Business Administration during the first Trump Administration, as well as President Trump’s eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
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