Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has officially received an endorsement from Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman who sought the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 2020 before distancing herself from the party.
On Monday, Trump welcomed the 43-year-old Gabbard to the stage in Detroit, a key swing state in Michigan.
Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022, citing its “wokeness,” and has since become a frequent and outspoken guest on Fox News.
She joined Trump to honor U.S. service members who were killed in an attack in Afghanistan three years ago, using the occasion to criticize the Biden administration.
The suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and over 100 Afghans.
The incident occurred during a chaotic withdrawal of American troops from the country, leading to the Taliban’s return to power.
Trump described the event as a “humiliation” that “triggered the collapse of American credibility and respect worldwide.”
He was joined earlier in the day by Ms Gabbard, a military veteran, at Virginia’s Arlington Cemetery to remember the American lives lost.
Ms Gabbard made frequent criticisms of US military interventionism during her career in Congress from 2013 to 2021.
Appearing at Monday’s event in Michigan, Ms Gabbard said she was appealing to Democrats, Republicans and independents alike to pick Trump at the ballot box in November – saying it was a matter of “saving our country and serving the people”.
Tulsi Gabbard’s official endorsement of Donald Trump marks the culmination of a remarkable political journey that began on the progressive left of the Democratic Party a decade ago.
Gabbard, the first Hindu member of the U.S. Congress, once served as vice-chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee before resigning to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.
In 2020, she ran for president, advocating for liberal causes such as government-run healthcare, free college tuition, and gun control. However, Joe Biden secured the Democratic nomination that year and ultimately won the presidency. Two years later, Gabbard left the Democratic Party, criticizing it for succumbing to “cowardly wokeness.”
By early 2024, she was openly praising Biden’s rival, Trump, who is now set to compete for the White House against Kamala Harris. Gabbard warned of a growing threat to American democracy, claiming that this danger was posed by the left-wing’s prosecution of Trump.
In the months that followed, there was speculation that Gabbard might be considered as Trump’s potential running mate for the November election, a role that eventually went to JD Vance.
Since leaving the Democratic Party, Gabbard has become a regular contributor to Fox News and has been accused by Ukrainian officials of “promoting Russian propaganda.”
Gabbard’s endorsement of Trump came just days after another Democratic defector, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., suspended his independent campaign for the White House and endorsed Trump as well.
Top Democrats were quick to dismiss Gabbard’s endorsement.
“Rather than focusing on earning the support of hardworking Americans, Trump is more fixated on winning the backing of extremists like Gabbard and RFK Jr — and they’ll do nothing but weigh down his sinking ship of a campaign,” the party’s Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd said in a statement.
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