Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential bid, furthering her shift away from the occasion she sought to symbolize 4 years in the past and linking herself to the GOP nominee’s critiques of Vice President Kamala Harris and the chaotic Afghanistan Warfare withdrawal.
Showing Monday with Trump in Detroit, Gabbard, a Nationwide Guard veteran who served two excursions of obligation within the Center East, stated that the GOP nominee “understands the grave responsibility that a president and commander in chief bears for every single one of our lives.”
The pair appeared on the Nationwide Guard Affiliation of america on the third anniversary of the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai Worldwide Airport, which killed 13 U.S. service members and greater than 100 Afghans. Gabbard accompanied Trump earlier Monday to Arlington Nationwide Cemetery, when the previous president laid wreaths in honor of three of the slain service members — Sgt. Nicole Gee, Workers Sgt. Darin Hoover and Workers Sgt. Ryan Knauss.
On Monday, Gabbard praised Trump for “having the courage to meet with adversaries, dictators, allies and partners alike in the pursuit of peace, seeing war as a last resort.” She condemned the Democratic White House for the U.S. now “facing multiple wars on multiple fronts in regions around the world and closer to the brink of nuclear war than we ever have been before.”
Gabbard has lengthy signaled some stage of assist for Trump, even whereas she sat within the U.S. Home as a Democrat. In 2019, she was the one lawmaker to vote “present” when the Home of Representatives impeached Trump for his dealings with Ukraine.
Gabbard’s endorsement of the rival nominee to her former occasion represents a polar swing from her place as a Democrat representing Hawaii within the U.S. Home, though Gabbard was identified throughout her 4 phrases for taking positions at odds together with her personal occasion’s institution. She was an early and vocal supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 Democratic presidential major run, which made her fashionable with progressives.
Not in search of reelection in 2020, Gabbard ran for president herself as a substitute, saying U.S. wars within the Center East destabilized the area, made the U.S. much less protected and price 1000’s of American lives, and that Democrats and Republicans shared the blame. She tore into Harris’ report throughout a major debate and finally outlasted her in that race, which President Joe Biden finally received.
Gabbard endorsed Biden however turned an impartial two years later, saying the Democratic Get together was dominated by an “elitist cabal of warmongers” and “woke” ideologues. Within the years since she has campaigned for a number of high-profile Republicans, turn into a contributor to Fox Information and began a podcast.
One other former Democratic presidential contender additionally only in the near past endorsed Trump. Final week, impartial candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who final 12 months ran as a Democrat difficult President Joe Biden for the nomination — suspended his marketing campaign and stated he was backing Trump within the basic election.
