Should former President Donald Trump be victorious in November, he has already signaled he will add two former Democrats to his transition team, The New York Times first reported on Tuesday.
Former Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and former Hawaii representative and 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard have both been named as key players in Trump's transitional team following their respective endorsements of the former president.
"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," senior campaign adviser Brian Hughes said in a statement. "We look forward to having their powerful voices on the team as we work to restore America's greatness."
On Friday, Kennedy announced the suspension of his campaign and threw his support behind Trump. On Monday Gabbard announced her support of the former president. Both Kennedy and Gabbard have cited their own disillusionment with the modern Democratic Party and have listed the silencing of critics via surrogates in the media and their promotion of foreign wars as key points of disagreement with their former party.
"Whether you're a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent, if you love our country, as I do, if you cherish peace and freedom as we do, I invite you to join me in doing all that we can to save our country and elect President Donald J. Trump and send him back to the White House to do the tough work of saving our country and serving the people," Gabbard said in her statement.
The transition team for a president typically makes key decisions in personnel and policy during the first critical months in office. Some critics have cited Trump's previous transition team's lack of experience as being the cause of a tumultuous first year in office with many positions in his administration left vacant.
Trump's current transition team is to be led by former administrator for the Small Business Administration under Trump, Linda McMahan, and Howard Lutnick, head of the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald.