While virtually every presidential candidate makes appeals to unity, only one candidate in recent history has an actual unifying record and platform – former President Donald J. Trump.
Unlike traditional political candidates, Trump has done more than any presidential aspirant in decades to build a bipartisan coalition that defies the Washington, D.C. political machine and unites voters of every political background. To the chagrin of Democrat Party leadership and the corporate media apparatus, Trump is teeing his campaign up for a unifying electoral victory that could fundamentally change the American political landscape for generations to come.
At the center of Trump’s campaign strategy has been a months-long effort to construct a cross-party, cross-cultural coalition that transcends America’s two-party divide and speaks to every American who believes in the causes of freedom, prosperity, safety, security, and peace.
The success of Trump’s efforts was perhaps most notably showcased when he received the coveted endorsements of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a former Democrat and Independent candidate in the 2024 race, and Tulsi Gabbard, a former presidential candidate in the 2020 Democrat primary.
Kennedy’s withdrawal from the race and subsequent endorsement of Trump became an instant media sensation. It also lays the groundwork for Trump victories in key battleground states like Arizona, Nevada, and Wisconsin, where polling indicates that as many as 66 percent of Kennedy voters are poised to switch over and pull the lever for Trump.
During his campaign, Kennedy (who initially ran as a Democrat before filing as an Independent) openly challenged a wide slate of progressive orthodoxies, ranging from COVID vaccines to Big Tech censorship and foreign policy. He demonstrated that there is a tangible desire among some Democrat voters and centrist Independents to break from the extremism and dogmatic progressive ideology of the modern Democrat Party.
“It used to be the Democratic Party opposed censorship,” Kennedy said in one speech. “It was the Democratic Party that wanted to reign in the military and the CIA. It was the Democratic Party that fought corporate influence. Remember when Wall Street and big corporations all supported the Republicans? Well, who is the liberal now and who’s the conservative? Who is the left? Who is the right?”
Following Kennedy’s endorsement, Trump praised Kennedy for his elevation of key ideas that unite American citizens from across the political spectrum.
“We’re welcoming the support from millions of disaffected Democrats, Independents, moderates, [and] old-fashioned liberals who still believe in little things like borders,” Trump proclaimed at one of his rally in Glendale, Arizona, where RFK, Jr. made his official endorsement. “Gone forever is the old Democratic Party of FDR, JFK—that’s right—even Bill Clinton. Kamala Harris’s Democrat Party is the party of free healthcare for illegal aliens, communist-style price controls, and defund the police.”
The Trump campaign’s outreach to traditional liberals expands far beyond Kennedy voters. Trump has repeatedly spoken out, for instance, against the left’s obsession with race-based “equity” and has called for a return to a colorblind, merit-based system of achievement.
“Instead of treating everyone equally, making decisions based on merit or qualifications,” Trump said in a March 2023 policy video, “‘equity’ means that benefits are awarded and policies are enforced based on skin color and sexual identity.” He continued: “I will get this extremism out of the White House, out of the military, out of the Justice Department, and out of our government.”
Trump has also spearheaded voter outreach initiatives to groups and organizations that have not been traditionally affiliated with Republican politics or conservative policies. In July, for instance, he spoke at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville, where he proposed the creation of a Strategic National Bitcoin Stockpile. He has also notably joined forces with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who hosted Trump for an interview on his X platform, drawing in tens of millions of views and billions of impressions.
Trump has also appeared on a wide array of cultural and political podcasts—including “This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von” and a viral appearance with golfer Bryson DeChambeau—signaling his campaign’s desire to reach new, younger audiences who typically vote Democrat. To further attract young voters, Trump has remained active on TikTok, where his videos regularly garner at least tens of millions of views.
In May, Trump made more history by becoming the first president to ever speak at the Libertarian Party’s National Convention. Trump has attended roundtables with business leaders, addressed San Francisco fundraisers with Silicon Valley donors, held massive rallies in the Democrat strongholds of Philadelphia, the Bronx, and New Jersey, and hosted a community roundtable discussion at a black church in Detroit in a pitch to black voters. At every opportunity, Trump is reaching out to traditionally Democrat voters, inviting them to bolster his vision to Make America Great Again.
“This fight is no longer between Democrats and Republicans. This is a fight between communism and freedom,” Trump said during a recent speech in Michigan. “We’re uniting forces to end the endless foreign wars, stop the censorship, end weaponization of our government, defend our borders, rebuild our middle class, protect the health of our children, and, above all, to restore our republic and vanquish the corruption that’s all over Washington, D.C. right now.”
If Trump continues his momentum and succeeds in fortifying his emerging bipartisan coalition in the final weeks leading up to Election Day, he will be poised not only to win the election, but to triumph in a win so historic that it could realign American electoral politics forever.
Aaron Flanigan is the pen name of a writer in Washington, D.C.
