EGN NEWS DESK
Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential bid, furthering her shift away from the party 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 War withdrawal.
Appearing Monday with Trump in Detroit, Gabbard, a National Guard veteran who served two excursions of responsibility within the Middle East, mentioned that the GOP nominee “understands the grave accountability {that a} president and commander in chief bears for each single one among our lives.”
The pair appeared on the National Guard Association of the United States on the third anniversary of the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which killed 13 U.S. service members and greater than 100 Afghans. Gabbard accompanied Trump earlier Monday to Arlington National Cemetery, the place the previous president laid wreaths in honor of three of the slain service members—Sgt. Nicole Gee, Staff Sgt. Darin Hoover and Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss.
On Monday, Gabbard praised Trump for “having the braveness to satisfy with adversaries, dictators, allies and companions alike within the pursuit of peace, seeing warfare as a final resort.” She condemned the Democratic White House for the U.S. now “dealing with a number of wars on a number of fronts in areas all over the world and nearer to the brink of nuclear warfare than we ever have been earlier than.”
The former president’s workforce introduced later Monday that Gabbard would reasonable a city corridor with Trump that the marketing campaign was planning for Thursday in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Gabbard has lengthy signaled some degree of help for Trump, even whereas she sat within the U.S. House as a Democrat. In 2019, she was the one lawmaker to vote “current” when the House of Representatives impeached Trump for his dealings with Ukraine.
Gabbard’s endorsement of the rival nominee to her former party represents a polar swing from her place as a Democrat representing Hawaii within the U.S. House, though Gabbard was identified throughout her 4 phrases for taking positions at odds together with her personal party’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 an alternative, saying U.S. wars within the Middle East destabilized the area, made the U.S. much less secure and value hundreds of American lives, and that Democrats and Republicans shared the blame. She tore into Harris’ document throughout a major debate and in the end outlasted her in that race, which President Joe Biden in the end received.
Gabbard endorsed Biden however turned an impartial two years later, saying the Democratic Party was dominated by an “elitist cabal of warmongers” and “woke” ideologues. In the years since she has campaigned for a number of high-profile Republicans, turn out to be a contributor to Fox News and began a podcast.
Another former Democratic presidential contender additionally only recently endorsed Trump. Last week, impartial candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—who final yr ran as a Democrat difficult President Joe Biden for the nomination—suspended his marketing campaign and mentioned he was backing Trump within the normal election.
—Kinnard reported from Chapin, S.C. McAvoy reported from Honolulu, Hawaii.
