Trump Supporters RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard Campaign in Las Vegas

Posted on: September 22, 2024, 05:51h. 

Last updated on: September 22, 2024, 05:51h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., stopped off in Las Vegas on Saturday to campaign for former president Donald Trump in his bid to return to the White House.

Kennedy, a Democrat turned independent, dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in August. He has endorsed Trump, the Republican nominee.

Democratic Party of ’60s Disappeared

Kennedy, the son and nephew of prominent Democrats, said the Democratic Party of his father’s and uncle’s day “no longer exists.”

In fact, Trump’s campaign theme of Make America Great Again (MAGA) “is about returning to the 1960s, when my uncle [John Kennedy] was president,” Robert Kennedy Jr., told an enthusiastic audience at the Bob Price Recreational Center in Las Vegas.

“We were a moral authority across the world,” Kennedy was quoted by the Las Vegas Sun.

Kennedy also revealed he recently spoke to Sean O’Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

“He told me to send his love to Donald Trump,” Kennedy said.

The Teamsters union officially won’t endorse a candidate in the race for the presidency.

Also appearing with Kennedy on Saturday was former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Hawaii Democrat who’s now an independent, but formerly ran for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Dick Cheney Criticized

During their appearances at the Trump campaign’s Reclaim America Tour, the two Trump backers lashed out at ex-Vice President Dick Cheney, a Republican who endorsed Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

The fact that she is celebrating the support of someone like Dick Cheney tells you everything you need to know about what kind of commander in chief she will be,” Gabbard told the crowd.

Last week, Kennedy explained on a Facebook post how Trump, if reelected, “will end the forever wars, get corruption out of government agencies, protect our civil liberties, and create a unity government.”

One rally attendee, Robert Bourke of Las Vegas, was supporting Robert Kennedy, but now is supporting Trump, the Sun reported.

“Trump has embraced a lot of the qualities of Kennedy’s campaign,” Bourke told the news outlet. “I felt like they had very similar platforms to begin with.”

When asked by Casino.org why Kennedy and Gabbard visited Las Vegas for the Trump campaign, Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston explained, “Trump wants these former candidates because they ostensibly peel off Democratic votes, especially young, conservative leaning men.”

“This is a coalition Trump needs to keep on his side and turn out to vote, both challenges down the stretch,” he added.

Trump appeared in Las Vegas earlier this month. Trump failed to carry Nevada in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential races.

A poll released last week by Las Vegas TV station KLAS and Emerson College showed that Harris and Trump both have 48% of the Nevada vote. Only 2% of the state’s voters questioned are undecided or back another candidate.

Harris appeared during the summer in a Nevada campaign stop. Both Harris and Trump want to end taxes on tips, a stand that is popular with hospitality workers at casinos and hotels.