The alliance between Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former President Donald J. Trump, which was fortified on Tuesday with Mr. Kennedy’s appointment to Mr. Trump’s transition team, is a sharp turnabout in a long-combative relationship.
Mr. Kennedy had spent the better part of a decade lobbing attacks at Mr. Trump, portraying him as a buffoonish, anti-democratic bully who led a feckless administration.
“In many ways, he’s discredited the American experiment with self-governance,” Mr. Kennedy said of Mr. Trump in early 2020.
Mr. Kennedy set aside his criticisms when he suspended his long-shot independent presidential campaign last Friday, saying that he was backing Mr. Trump because he was “choosing to believe” that “this time” Mr. Trump would bring him into his administration — something that did not happen for Mr. Kennedy the last time around, after they met in 2017. Mr. Kennedy, reached for comment, pointed to the remarks he made Friday.
Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Mr. Kennedy acknowledged Friday that he and the former president “don’t agree on everything.” But he said that they had found common ground on certain issues, and he took a different, far more positive tone in front of a cheering crowd of Trump supporters in Glendale, Ariz.
“Don’t you want a president who’s going to protect America’s freedoms, and who’s going to protect us against totalitarianism?” Mr. Kennedy asked on Friday.
Six years earlier, he had accused Mr. Trump of “systematically” supporting totalitarian governments around the world.
Here’s a look back at 12 times Mr. Kennedy ridiculed Mr. Trump and his policies.
July 2, 2024
In calling Mr. Trump a “terrible president,” Mr. Kennedy argued that he had made some compelling promises but had not followed through on them. “I don’t think he’s capable of meeting the expectations and fulfilling the promises that he raises with his rhetoric.”
June 19, 2024
“It is not an ‘America First’ strategy, nor will it make America great,” Mr. Kennedy wrote, calling the former president’s policies “absurd and terrifying.”
June 13, 2024
“President Trump ran up $8 trillion — more money than every president in United States history from George Washington to George Bush,” Mr. Kennedy said on “Piers Morgan Uncensored.” (A calculation by the liberal Urban Institute in Washington found that deficit growth under Mr. Trump was the third-highest in U.S. history when measured as a share of the economy, behind increases under Mr. Bush and Abraham Lincoln.)
June 11, 2024
“Despite rhetoric to the contrary, President Trump has a weakness for swamp creatures, especially corporate monopolies, their lobbyists, and their money,” Mr. Kennedy wrote on social media in June. “After promising to drain the swamp, instead, he hired swamp creatures to regulate their own industries.”
Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
May 24, 2024
“He didn’t stand up for the Constitution when it really mattered,” Mr. Kennedy said.
April 27, 2024
“When frightened men take to social media they risk descending into vitriol, which makes them sound unhinged,” Mr. Kennedy wrote on social media. “President Trump’s rant against me is a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims.”
April 1, 2024
Mr. Kennedy had spent the better part of a decade lobbing attacks at Mr. Trump, portraying him as a buffoonish, anti-democratic bully who led a feckless administration.
“In many ways, he’s discredited the American experiment with self-governance,” Mr. Kennedy said of Mr. Trump in early 2020.
Mr. Kennedy set aside his criticisms when he suspended his long-shot independent presidential campaign last Friday, saying that he was backing Mr. Trump because he was “choosing to believe” that “this time” Mr. Trump would bring him into his administration — something that did not happen for Mr. Kennedy the last time around, after they met in 2017. Mr. Kennedy, reached for comment, pointed to the remarks he made Friday.
Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Mr. Kennedy acknowledged Friday that he and the former president “don’t agree on everything.” But he said that they had found common ground on certain issues, and he took a different, far more positive tone in front of a cheering crowd of Trump supporters in Glendale, Ariz.
“Don’t you want a president who’s going to protect America’s freedoms, and who’s going to protect us against totalitarianism?” Mr. Kennedy asked on Friday.
Six years earlier, he had accused Mr. Trump of “systematically” supporting totalitarian governments around the world.
Here’s a look back at 12 times Mr. Kennedy ridiculed Mr. Trump and his policies.
July 2, 2024
“Donald Trump was a terrible president”
In an appearance on the “Breaking Points” podcast after the debate between Mr. Trump and President Biden, Mr. Kennedy said Mr. Trump had turned the “government over to corporate pirates” during his presidency.In calling Mr. Trump a “terrible president,” Mr. Kennedy argued that he had made some compelling promises but had not followed through on them. “I don’t think he’s capable of meeting the expectations and fulfilling the promises that he raises with his rhetoric.”
June 19, 2024
“Absurd and terrifying”
Mr. Kennedy said on social media that Mr. Trump had an “imperial plan” for American foreign policy.“It is not an ‘America First’ strategy, nor will it make America great,” Mr. Kennedy wrote, calling the former president’s policies “absurd and terrifying.”
June 13, 2024
“He spent more money than all presidents”
Mr. Kennedy regularly targeted Mr. Trump’s stewardship of the economy, highlighting significant increases in the national debt between 2017 and 2021. He described the risk of further growth in the debt as “existential.”“President Trump ran up $8 trillion — more money than every president in United States history from George Washington to George Bush,” Mr. Kennedy said on “Piers Morgan Uncensored.” (A calculation by the liberal Urban Institute in Washington found that deficit growth under Mr. Trump was the third-highest in U.S. history when measured as a share of the economy, behind increases under Mr. Bush and Abraham Lincoln.)
June 11, 2024
“A weakness for swamp creatures”
During his campaign, Mr. Kennedy repeatedly suggested that Mr. Trump presided over a corrupt administration.“Despite rhetoric to the contrary, President Trump has a weakness for swamp creatures, especially corporate monopolies, their lobbyists, and their money,” Mr. Kennedy wrote on social media in June. “After promising to drain the swamp, instead, he hired swamp creatures to regulate their own industries.”
Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
May 24, 2024
“He didn’t stand up for the Constitution”
Addressing the Libertarian National Convention, Mr. Kennedy chastised Mr. Trump over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying that he had presided over lockdowns that produced the “greatest restriction on individual liberties this country has ever known."“He didn’t stand up for the Constitution when it really mattered,” Mr. Kennedy said.
April 27, 2024
“A barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims”
Pushing to debate Mr. Trump in the spring, Mr. Kennedy unloaded on the former president, who had claimed that Democrats had planted Mr. Kennedy in the race to help their party.“When frightened men take to social media they risk descending into vitriol, which makes them sound unhinged,” Mr. Kennedy wrote on social media. “President Trump’s rant against me is a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims.”
April 1, 2024
