Tulsi Gabbard announces she’s joining the GOP while at NC campaign stop with Trump
Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who now supports Donald Trump, joined him on stage in Greensboro Tuesday night to announce that she’s joining the Republican Party.
After walking out to loud cheers from supporters of the former president, Gabbard said she was joining “the party of the people, the party of equality, the party that was founded to fight against and end slavery in this country, and is the party of of common sense, and the party that is led by a president who has the courage and strength to fight for peace.”
Trump introduced her at the end of his almost two-hour remarks, calling her “a woman that everybody loves” who has “so much common sense.” As Gabbard made her way to the podium, Trump embraced her and said, “Boy, are you popular!”
Gabbard said the Democratic Party, which she belonged to for more than 20 years, is now “completely unrecognizable.” She announced just over two years ago, on Oct. 11, 2022, that she was leaving the Democratic Party and would register as an independent, ABC News reported.
Tuesday, she criticized Vice President Kamala Harris as being an ineffective leader, and slammed her for touting the endorsement of former Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, and appearing with her on the campaign trail.
“She is anti-freedom, she is pro-censorship, she is pro-open borders, and she is pro-war,” Gabbard said of Harris. “Without even pretending to care about peace, as President Trump talked about, she has shamelessly embraced the endorsement and support of warmongers like Dick Cheney, and Liz Cheney, and others who care more about power and feeding the military industrial complex, than they care about you.”
By contrast, Gabbard said, Trump has pledged to “end wars, not start them,” and has the “courage” to “root out the deep rot of corruption in the swamp in Washington.”
When he returned to the podium, Trump said he didn’t know Gabbard was going to announce that she was joining the GOP. He called it a “surprise” and a “great honor.”
Gabbard ran for president as a Democrat in 2020 and ended her campaign in a crowded field of candidates. She received national attention for attacking Harris and her record during the second Democratic presidential primary debate in July 2019. Clips of that exchange between Gabbard and Harris went viral at the time, and drew renewed attention ahead of the first debate between Trump and Harris last month.
After dropping out in 2020, Gabbard endorsed Joe Biden for president, USA Today reported.
This story was originally published October 22, 2024 at 9:14 PM.
