For former Hawaiian Representative Tulsi Gabbard, things have come full circle: Although she was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, she has now come out publicly and officially endorsed Republican candidate Donald Trump for the office of Commander in Chief.
After Gabbard made then-candidate Kamala Harris famed in a debate in 2019, she was increasingly disillusioned She is no longer connected to her former party and has lost faith in its commitment to democracy.
Gabbard was a Democratic representative for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District from 2013 to 2021, but announced her Leaving the party in 2022 after denouncing it as an “elitist conspiracy of warmongers.”
The former Democrat, who ran against Harris in the 2019 Democratic presidential primary, was recently recruited by Trump to assist him prepare for the debate ahead of his Sept. 10 meeting with the vice president at the National Constitutional Center in Philadelphia.
Gabbard has become increasingly vocal in her criticism of Democrats and their exploit of the government. As we reported, just one day after she criticized the Biden-Harris team on Fox News, she was placed on the TSA’s “Quiet Skies” list. A pretty subtle move, DOJ.
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Trump greeted them on Monday at a National Guard event in Detroit:
BREAKING NEWS: Trump just officially announced that Tulsi Gabbard, former Democratic presidential candidate and vice chair of the DNC, will join his campaign to destroy Kamala Harris.
“She has a lot of common sense, a lot of temperament and she loves our country.” pic.twitter.com/c5iqG8Z9q2
— George (@BehizyTweets) 26 August 2024
And today, I’m honored to officially welcome another true American patriot: a 17-year veteran of the Hawaii Army National Guard, a four-term Democratic Congresswoman. She’s very, very popular, former vice chair of the national Democratic Party, and the Democratic nominee for U.S. President in 2020.
You know, she was a very good candidate – every time she ran, she did well. She did well. She decided to leave, she couldn’t take it anymore. But she’s very special, and I didn’t know this, but she was a lieutenant colonel.
That’s not bad, Lt. Colonel. Not bad. I didn’t know that. You know, I just found out. I said, “Put it down.” You have to put it down. That’s bigger. That’s better than all the other stuff I read.
But no, she is a special person. She has a lot of common sense and a robust spirit. She loves our country and she loves the people in this room.
Gabbard said her love for the country was more critical than her devotion to a particular party:
“I’m proud to stand before you today, whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican or an independent,” Gabbard said. “If you love our country as much as I do, if you value peace and freedom as much as we do, then I invite you to join me in doing everything we can to save our country, to elect President Donald J. Trump and send him back to the White House to do the hard work of saving our country and serving the people.”
Gabbard’s endorsement comes shortly after another prominent former Democrat announced his support for Trump: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose move caused a stir in the 2024 presidential campaign.
‘How Democrats make Republicans’: Turley says RFK Jr.’s support for Trump should be ‘a wake-up call for the party’
Pollster Frank Luntz: Support from RFK Jr. could well put Trump in the lead in key swing states
Even though the media and Democrats are fresh off their DNC hype and have spent their speeches praising “joy” rather than concrete policies that could assist Americans, these Democratic defections represent a piercing counterpoint and are giving the Trump campaign some sedate momentum.
