Top Donor Slams Trump for Embracing ‘Anti-Vax Kook’ RFK Jr.
Former Democrats Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went full MAGA in the past week—but some Republicans think their support will do more harm than good.
Go Nakamura/Reuters
At least one deep-pocketed Republican donor is angry Donald Trump has welcomed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard aboard the MAGA train.
Eric Levine, a former backer of Nikki Haley who said this spring he’d “reluctantly” vote for Trump, assailed the former president for embracing the pair of “fringe” politicians in an email made public Wednesday.
In a subhead of his written rant, Levine questioned if Trump is “trying to lose.”
Eric Levine went on Fox News in November to explain why he was throwing his money behind Nikki Haley at the time.
Fox News
“It is hard to imagine a more self-destructive announcement,” Levine wrote of the embracing of Kennedy’s endorsement, reported Jewish Insider.
Levine didn’t stop there. He went on to describe the Kennedy scion as an “anti-vax kook” who goes searching for “conspiracies behind every tree and under every bed.”
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On Gabbard, Levine indicated he was in the shock that the “former vice-chair of the DNC and co-chair of the 2016 Bernie Sanders for President campaign” now had a spot on Trump’s tentative transition team.
Donald Trump attended a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday with Tulsi Gabbard. She endorsed the former president later that day, with him standing next to her on stage.
Rebecca Cook/Reuters
“There is something terribly wrong with this picture,” he said.
Levine, a wealthy New York City lawyer who’s made appearances on Fox News, wrote that he is a “a former Haley voter and Reagan Republican.” He accused Trump of compromising too much in embracing Kennedy and Gabbard, advising that he needs to focus on firing up his base.
“I say to you, Mr. Trump, speak to me and my fellow Republicans,” he wrote. “Reject the fringes. Fight for the middle. If you do not, you will forever be known from this day forward as the ‘Former President.’”
Trump named Gabbard and Kennedy to his transition team this week, not long after they took to the stage at rallies to throw their support behind the former president. They previously ran fiery campaigns to keep Trump out of the White House—Gabbard as a Democrat, in 2016, and Kennedy as an Independent until he finally called off his campaign on Friday.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke at a rally for Donald Trump in Arizona on Friday, just hours after he first endorsed him.
Go Nakamura/Reuters
Levine wrote that he fears Trump is only further alienating himself with more-traditional Republicans, like himself, by embracing controversial ex-Democrats. He added that Kamala Harris is going after Haley’s former supporters—particularly women—and is having success in doing so.
“These should be solid Trump voters,” Levine said of conservatives now gravitating toward Harris. “Harris’ lies are easily exposed if Trump remains focused on policy and records. Yet, they are up for grabs because Trump seems to be laser focused on narrowing his base rather than expanding it.”
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