The former Navy SEAL who once worked as an intelligence analyst for the Pentagon and the FBI has become a major backer of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and his son has become the presumptive nominee.
Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL and an avid Trump supporter, has become one of the presumptive GOP nominee’s top surrogates, and in an exclusive interview with CNN on Thursday, Kyle revealed he was also an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump.
“I think he’s doing a great job, a lot of work, for the country,” Kyle told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
“I’ve always been a conservative, but I also have always been conservative and I’m a Trump supporter.
I’ve been a supporter for Donald Trump for a long time, and I really feel like this is going to be a good thing for this country.”
Kyle, who spent more than 20 years as a Navy Seal, was a key player in the Navy’s SEAL Team Six, which went on to kill Osama bin Laden.
He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010, and he was awarded two Bronze Stars in 2016 for his service during Operation Enduring Freedom.
In the same interview, Kyle said he would have voted for Trump over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton if he had known that he would one day run for president.
“You know, if I knew, I would have said I would vote for Trump,” he said.
Kyle was also a key member of the Special Forces team that killed bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011, and the former SEAL was one of five men who captured bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Kyle said he voted for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012, but that the 2012 election was his first chance to “get involved” in politics.
“We’re going to get out there and vote,” he told CNN.
“You know what, I have been involved in politics since I was a kid, and it’s never been about me.”
Kyle has been a big supporter of the Trump campaign for some time.
He has given $250,000 to Trump’s super PAC, and Kyle has also spoken on his behalf to Republican and Democratic presidential candidates.
Kyle, 61, has also appeared on several Trump campaign events, including a campaign rally in Michigan last month.