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Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article referred to Gabbard as an active Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. Gabbard is not in the Active Guard Reserve Program. The article has been updated to more accurately reflect U.S. military ranks. It is also worth noting that Gabbard made her endorsement as a civilian, and not on the behalf of the U.S. Army.
CV NEWS FEED // Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard officially endorsed Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump this week.
Gabbard, a Lieutenant Colonel currently serving part-time in the U.S. Army Reserve, appeared onstage with Trump on Monday afternoon at the 2024 National Guard Association General Conference & Exhibition in Detroit, Michigan.
The Biden-Harris administration “has us facing multiple wars on multiple fronts in regions around the world,” Gabbard said, “and closer to the brink of nuclear war than we ever have been before.”
“This is one of the main reasons why I’m committed to doing all I can to send President Trump back to the White House where he can once again serve us as our commander-in-chief,” she added.
Following a period of sustained applause, Gabbard continued:
Because I am confident that [Trump’s] first task will be to do the work to walk us back from the brink of war.
We cannot be prosperous unless we are at peace. And we can’t live free as long as we have a government that is retaliating against its political opponents and undermining our civil liberties, weaponizing our very institutions against those they deem as a threat.
She then blasted Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, stating that she “has done this over the last three-and-a-half years.”
“[Harris] won’t hesitate to continue that if she is elected president,” Gabbard added.
The ex-Democrat, who left the party two years ago, noted that the Biden-Harris administration’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) placed her on a “secret domestic terror watchlist.”
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Gabbard explained she was added to the list “after exposing the truth about what kind of dangers we would face if Kamala Harris is elected as president.
“We as Americans must stand together to reject this anti-freedom culture of political retaliation and abuse of power,” the former lawmaker stressed.
The TSA is an agency of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“I am proud to stand before you today, whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent,” Gabbard said. “If you love our country as I do, if you cherish peace and freedom as we do, I invite you to join me in doing all that we can to save our country and elect President Donald J. Trump.”
“I know that President Trump understands the grave responsibility that a president and commander-in-chief bears for every single one of our lives,” Gabbard said in her speech to the soldiers. “He keeps us in his heart in the decisions that he makes.”
“We saw this through his first term in the presidency, when he not only didn’t start any new wars, he took action to de-escalate and prevent wars,” the former Democrat continued. “He exercised the courage that we expect from our commander-in-chief … seeing war as a last resort.”
“The same cannot be said about Kamala Harris,” Gabbard said. “In fact, the opposite is true and we’re living through this reality today.”
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In the middle of his own speech at the military conference, Trump introduced Gabbard as a “true American patriot.”
The Republican nominee added he is “honored to officially welcome” her support to his campaign. He went on to describe her extensive resume:
A 17-year veteran of the Hawaii Army National Guard. A four-term Congresswoman, very, very popular. A former Vice Chair of the national Democratic Party, and a 2020 candidate for the United States presidency.
“She’s a special person,” Trump said, addressing the military service members in the audience. “She’s got great common sense, great spirit, she loves our country, and she loves the people in this room.”
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Gabbard’s endorsement of the 45th president came just three days after independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump.
Monday’s speech marked the first time Gabbard had explicitly stated on the record that she is endorsing Trump. However, she had been indirectly allied with the effort to stop a Harris presidency throughout the preceding weeks.
A week and a half ago, various sources reported that Gabbard was helping Trump prepare for his upcoming debates against Harris.
On Sunday, Gabbard told FOX News that Trump was doing “great” in his practice sessions with her.
“He knows the issues,” she said in an interview with FOX’s Brian Kilmeade. “[Trump] is very honed in on her [Kamala Harris’] record in reminding voters… ‘What have you done for the last three and a half years?”
Back in February, CatholicVote reported that Trump implied Gabbard was on his vice presidential shortlist. He eventually selected Sen. JD Vance, R-OH, to be his running mate five months later.
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From 2013 to 2021, Gabbard represented Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, a safe Democratic seat.
During her congressional tenure, she was a member of the left-wing Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), a group which also includes members of the “Squad,” an informal group of controversial far-left lawmakers.
In 2016, Gabbard endorsed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, for the Democratic presidential nomination instead of the party’s eventual failed nominee Hillary Clinton. This decision prompted her to resign from her role as vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Once considered by The New York Times to be a rising Democratic star, Gabbard ran for the party’s 2020 presidential nomination.
During a Democratic Primary debate, Gabbard made national headlines after she confronted Harris – a fellow nomination candidate – calling out her record on crime and foreign policy.
CatholicVote previously reported: “Many observers considered the short exchange was a turning point for Harris’ ill-fated 2020 candidacy – with some going even further and stating that it ‘ended’ the then-senator’s bid.”
“Sen. Harris says she’s proud of her record as a prosecutor and that she’ll be a prosecutor president, but I’m deeply concerned about this record,” Gabbard said during the viral exchange.
“[Harris] put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when asked if she ever smoked marijuana,” Gabbard continued, eliciting thunderous applause from the crowd:
[Harris] blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so.
She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California, and she fought to keep [the] cash bail system in place. That impacts poor people in the worst kind of way.
