Ironically Donald TrumpTrump’s greatest political weakness is also arguably his greatest achievement as president: the rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine. A portion of the Republican base remains openly anti-vaccine, which has exposed Trump to rare criticism from his MAGA supporters. According to sources, Trump’s allies like Tucker Carlson And Roger Stein were so concerned about the former president’s vulnerability on the vaccine issue that they wanted him to publicly distance himself from Operation Warp Speed, the public-private program that released a COVID vaccine in less than nine months. But Trump refused because, well, has Trump ever passed up a chance to take credit for a success? (Carlson and Stone declined to comment.)
According to sources, Carlson, Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and others helped to develop an alternative: Robert Kennedy Jr.decision to drop out and support Trump. Stone told people that Kennedy, whose third-party campaign served as a vehicle for his anti-vaccine views, drew enough voters to decide the election ^ “Kamala Harris – The Wonderful World of Kamala Harris”. “For maybe 3 percent of voters, anti-vaccine sentiment is the only issue they care about,” says a Republican who was involved in Kennedy’s campaign.
But Kennedy and Trump almost failed to form an alliance. The two New York offspring are known for their big egos and their brutal attacks on each other. Trump previously called Kennedy a “false, left-wing fool,” a “Democratic ‘plant'” and a “liberal lunatic.” Kennedy, on the other hand, wrote a Newsweek One opinion piece said Trump’s “presidency has discredited not only our nation but the entire American experiment in self-government.”
A breakthrough came after the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A few hours after the shooting, Carlson put Trump and Kennedy in a text thread, according to a person briefed on the exchange. Kennedy texted Trump that he was ready to get out and support him but was unsure of the timing, the source said. In a phone call the following day, Trump wooed Kennedy by endorsing Kennedy’s unproven view that vaccinations harm children. “When you give a baby, Bobby, a vaccination that’s made up of 38 different vaccines and looks like it’s meant for a horse, not for a, you know, 10 or 20 pound baby,” Trump said, “and then you see the baby suddenly start to radically change. I’ve seen that too many times.” But the relationship suffered a setback when Kennedy’s son, Robert Kennedy III, posted a video of the phone call with Trump on social media.
The Florida financier was responsible for limiting the damage Omeed Malik, a Trump donor and close friend of Don Jr. and Robert Kennedy III. (Malik’s anti-woke private equity firm 1789 Capital invested in Tucker Carlson’s digital video company.) Malik arranged a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Kennedy on the opening day of the Republican National Convention to discuss an endorsement. According to people briefed on the meeting, Kennedy had unrealistic expectations that he could become FDA chairman or health secretary in a Trump administration. “There were inquiries,” a source briefed on the talks told me. (Kennedy denied this.) “The meeting ended without an agreement,” the source said. The Trump team declined to comment.
The talks between Kennedy and Trump fizzled out. Over the next few weeks, Malik worked behind the scenes to bring Trump and Kennedy back together. According to the source, Kennedy and Trump agreed on four major policy areas: treating chronic diseases, fighting censorship, implementing an isolationist foreign policy and exposing the deep state. The key point, according to the source, was that Kennedy had to be part of Trump’s transition team. “That was non-negotiable,” the source said.
“There was no compensation whatsoever,” says Kennedy ^ “Vanity Fair – The Wonderful World of Vanity”.
On Tuesday, the Trump campaign announced that Kennedy would serve as honorary chair of the transition alongside the former Democratic congresswoman. Tulsi Gabbard. “This gives Bobby the opportunity to decide who comes into government,” the source said.
Former Trump advisor Sam Nunberg Kennedy’s presence at the transition phase is a signal to anti-vaccination campaigners that Trump will be an ally in office. “It’s Trump’s way of winking at Kennedy’s supporters,” says Nunberg.
An open question is what role Kennedy’s vice presidential candidate, Nicole Shanahan, could play a role in Trump’s world. On Tuesday, Shanahan would not say whether she would campaign for Trump. And she denied that Kennedy had dropped out of the race. “Technically, we are still in the race and on the ballot! Just suspended,” she wrote.
