LOVE IN A HOPELESS PLACE

Why Trump’s Campaign Embraced RFK Jr. After Calling Him ‘Leftie Loonie’

How exactly did the Kennedy scion seduce the Trump campaign?

It wasn’t long ago that Donald Trump’s campaign was vilifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a “leftie loonie” pariah.

Now the black sheep of the Kennedy political dynasty is the centerpiece of Trump World, threatening to overshadow JD Vance with his star power and the potential—the former president’s retainers believe—to deliver liberal votes to Trump.

The love fest has blossomed from a place of revulsion.

In January, campaign co-chair Chris LaCivita tweeted in all-caps fashion like his boss, “This is 100% FAKE NEWS — “NO ONE from the Trump campaign ever approached RFK jr (or ever will) — one of the most LIBERAL and radical environmentalists in the country.”

LaCivita’s rant—back when the campaign feared Kennedy might cut into Trump’s support—was posted in response to a Jan. 27, 2024, Fox News story which claimed the Trump team had made early attempts to recruit RFK Jr. as a running mate.

Just short of three months later, on April 15, LaCivita doubled down on the Trump camp’s distaste of Kennedy. He retweeted his never-ever tirade, explaining directly to RFK Jr. on X that it “was true then and it’s true now @RobertfKennedyJr ….your a leftie loonie that would never be approached to be on the ticket..sorry!”

Flash forward four months. Now, the “Leftie Loonie” himself has dropped out, endorsed Trump for president and rebranded MAGA as MAHA—Make America Healthy Again—making weird even weirder. (LaCivita has not shared his thoughts on the new Trump-Kennedy bromance on social media.)

Mrs. Leftie Loonie, to borrow the Trump campaign chairman’s rhetoric, is the Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines, who had previously threatened to divorce Kennedy if he joined the Trump campaign. She’s now taking a thumping from Hollywood, which is likely to get worse, not better.

RFK Jr. said Tuesday the former president has asked him to serve on his presidential transition team and that he’s “looking forward to that.”

The next seismic opportunity for Kennedy and Trump’s bromance to deepen could occur in the midst of a transition when Trump, if he defeats Kamala Harris on Election Day, would be choosing cabinet officials and appointing other senior positions in a second administration.

Trump reposted a comment from conservative internet darling Benny Johnson, who described Trump and RFK Jr. as the “strongest anti-establishment ticket in American history”—raising questions about his commitment to the current Trump-Vance ticket.

The Daily Beast reached out to a Vance spokesman asking for comment on the GOP vice presidential nominee’s reaction to RFK Jr.’s endorsement of Trump and whether the Ohio senator is worried about Trump’s commitment to keeping him on the ticket. The spokesman, Luke Schroeder, pointed to Vance’s comments on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday when he said, “I think what RFK's endorsement really shows is that the Kennedy Democrats are actually more at home in the Republican Party of Donald Trump.”

Trump communications director Steven Cheung told the Daily Beast in a statement provided Tuesday that “Senator JD Vance is the perfect vice presidential candidate because he is a believer in the movement and can prosecute the case effectively against Kamala Harris.”

Hines, meanwhile, was more all in for MAGA than had previously been known.

According to Kennedy, she pushed her husband to meet with Trump in order to “hear him out” and ultimately offer a full-throated endorsement. She even joined the meeting with Trump and his campaign co-chair, Susie Wiles, that preceded the Kennedy endorsement in Arizona, where Democrats put up billboards declaring the Trump-Kennedy alliance “Weird as Hell.”

The partnership between the two former adversaries didn’t happen overnight. The former president apparently spent many weeks coaxing the Kennedy scion to his camp. Trump’s efforts were captured in a leaked video posted in mid-July in which Trump said he “would love” to team up with RFK Jr., saying it would be “big” and “we’re gonna win.”

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Mary Ann AkersWashington Bureau Chief

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