Trump-Vance base voices support for Kennedy's endorsement: 'They both have my heart'
Supporters of former President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. say they support Kennedy's endorsement of the former president and GOP 2024 presidential nominee, saying both men have their "heart."
Fox News Digital spoke to supporters Friday at a Trump campaign rally in Glendale, Arizona, where Trump took Kennedy onstage just hours after the now-former independent candidate and scion to the American political dynasty suspended his campaign and encouraged voters to vote for the Trump-Vance ticket in swing states.
"I think it kind of makes sense that Kennedy, if he's sincere about trying to make this country better for everybody, is going to reach out and and communicate with people that want to make this country better," one Trump supporter said.
"I think as long as we just try to find space to make allies for people to disagree with us, I think it could be a huge," the person said.
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Kennedy, who adopted the slogan "Make America Healthy Again," ran his campaign on ending chronic illness in America and overhauling its food system.
"I think there's a lot of cultural crossover between people that want to live healthy lifestyles, eat right, not have chronic diseases and try to find healthy ways of maintaining their health," one Trump supporter said of MAGA and the RFK Jr. campaign.
Another Trump supporter, a woman originally from San Francisco who recently moved to Arizona, said she believes Kennedy's endorsement is "important."
"Everything that he's been vocal on the last few years are really important for Trump's campaign, because I think a lot of Americans, myself included, are still pretty upset with him about Operation Warp Speed and not standing up against Big Pharma," she said.
Trump's Operation Warp Speed was the project that facilitated the manufacture and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. Many Republicans and conservatives say the program rushed the vaccine without proper testing and resulted in high rates of vaccine injury. They also protested vaccine mandates.
Pete and Erin, a couple originally from California and recently moved to the Grand Canyon State, said Kennedy's message illustrates problems with government bureaucracy.
"They both have my heart," Erin said of Trump and Kennedy. "They speak the truth. They don't B.S. They don't need all the sparkle in Hollywood. I couldn't care less about what people from Hollywood have to say … they're just wolves in sheep's clothing."
"I think the thing he said, [the] FDA, I mean that's just an illustration of the bureaucracy that's ballooned in our government," Pete said.
Kennedy has been critical of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On "Fox News Sunday," he told host Shannon Bream that, if he should serve in a Trump administration, he "would change the focus and would end the corruption."
"Right now, 75% of FDA's budget is coming from pharmaceutical companies. That is a perverse incentive," he said.
Pete and Erin said they support the Trump-Vance ticket in large part due to his stance on China and the border. The couple lost their son to fentanyl, a lethal drug that authorities believe to be manufactured in China and Mexico and trafficked directly into the U.S.
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The couple lamented that the fentanyl crisis, which is the leading cause of death for Americans between 18 and 49, was not mentioned at the Democratic National Convention last week.
"When they say nothing about it … it's just a slap in the face," Erin said.
While it was not highlighted at the Chicago convention, the Democratic Party platform unveiled last week says that the next Democrat administration will "push Congress to provide the resources and authorities that we need to secure the border," the platform states.
"This includes additional border patrol agents, immigration judges, asylum officers, cutting-edge inspection machines to help detect and stop the flow of fentanyl, and funding for cities and states that are sheltering migrants," it says.