Democrats for Trump

OPINION:

Two former Democratic presidential contenders just shifted allegiance to former President Donald Trump. On Monday, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard enthusiastically endorsed the Republican candidate, highlighting his genuine concern for the troops.

“I know that President Trump understands the grave burden that the commander-in-chief bears for every single one of our lives. … He not only did not start any new wars, he took action to de-escalate and prevent wars,” she said.

Having served as a Hawaii National Guard officer in a medical unit in Iraq, Ms. Gabbard believes Vice President Kamala Harris is beholden to the military-industrial complex and has brought the nation to the brink of war with Russia.

The four-term House member, who also served as vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, made herself an enemy of Ms. Harris by exposing her reckless foreign policy views on a Democratic candidates debate stage in 2019.

Ms. Gabbard’s words four years ago echo what she said Monday, confirming she wasn’t the one who left the Democratic Party. The party, as she has said, left her, and it did so with extreme prejudice. In a petty move, the Transportation Security Administration added Ms. Gabbard to a secret “Quiet Skies” watchlist, ensuring she’d be treated like a potential terrorist.

“We as Americans must stand together to reject this anti-freedom culture of political retaliation and abuse of power,” Ms. Gabbard said.

That was also the feeling of Democrat-turned-independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has agreed to join Ms. Gabbard on Mr. Trump’s presidential transition team. Few names carry as much weight in the Democratic hierarchy as Mr. Kennedy’s, which makes his endorsement surprising.

Mr. Kennedy did his best to stay within the fold, mounting a primary challenge to President Biden based on his manifest inability to fulfill the duties of his office for four more years. The party retaliated, blocking him from the debate stage and launching lawsuits to ensure nobody would have a chance to vote for him.

“We saw for the first time in American history the use of the judiciary to get rid of candidates. … When I was growing up, the Democratic Party of RFK and JFK was the party that was fighting for voting rights,” he said in an interview with Tucker Carlson.

Mr. Kennedy believes Democrats have to play hardball because their candidate, Ms. Harris, is so weak that she can win only by crippling her opponents — going to the extreme of indicting them and trying to send them to prison.

Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Gabbard are traditional liberals with no shortage of policy stances that wouldn’t go over well at a Republican mixer. They are, however, united with Mr. Trump on the need to shake up the establishment in three critical respects.

The wielding of government power against political enemies must end. Government collusion with Big Tech to censor free speech must end. The endless wars pushed by neocons — Republican and Democrat alike — must end.

Only Mr. Trump’s return to the White House has a shot at reforming the system under what Mr. Kennedy describes as a “team of rivals,” modeled after Abraham Lincoln’s decision to invite former opponents to serve in his government.

Polls show Mr. Trump is lining up allies in his fight to restore normalcy across demographic barriers. Many lifetime Democrats have come to realize the state of the nation — and their wallet — requires reconsidering their allegiance.