Donald Trump’s presidential marketing campaign has acquired an official endorsement from former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination however later distanced herself from the get together.
Trump welcomed Ms Gabbard, 43, to a stage in Detroit, Michigan, a key swing state, on Monday.
Ms. Gabbard give up the Democratic Social gathering in 2022, complaining of its “wokeness,” and has since turn out to be a frequent and outspoken visitor on Fox Information.
She appeared with Trump to commemorate U.S. service members killed in an assault in Afghanistan three years in the past and used it as a chance to criticize the Biden administration.
A suicide bombing at Kabul’s Karzai Worldwide Airport killed 13 U.S. service members and greater than 100 Afghans.
The incident comes as U.S. troops withdraw from the nation in chaos and the Taliban return to energy.
Trump referred to as it a “shame” that “triggered a collapse of American credibility and respect world wide.”
Earlier within the day, Ms. Gabbard, a veteran, joined him at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia to honor fallen Individuals.
Ms. Gabbard was a frequent critic of U.S. navy interventionism throughout her congressional profession from 2013 to 2021.
Talking at an occasion in Michigan on Monday, Ms. Gabbard referred to as on Democrats, Republicans and independents to decide on Trump on the poll field in November, saying it was “a matter of saving our nation and serving the individuals.” ” query.
Her official endorsement of Trump marks the fruits of a exceptional political journey that started on the progressive left wing of the Democratic Social gathering over the previous decade.
She was the primary Hindu member of the U.S. Congress and later served as vice chair of the Democratic Nationwide Committee earlier than resigning to assist Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential marketing campaign.
Ms. Gabbard ran for president in 2020, supporting liberal points comparable to government-run well being care, free school tuition and gun management.
However Joe Biden grew to become the Democratic nominee that yr and in the end gained the presidency. Two years later, Ms. Gabbard give up the Democratic Social gathering, saying the get together had succumbed to a “cowardly awakening.”
By early 2024, she was praising Biden’s rival Trump, who will this time face off in opposition to Kamala Harris for the White Home.
She warned of rising threats to American democracy, saying the hazard was brought on by the American left’s prosecution of Trump.
Within the months that adopted, there was even hypothesis that Ms Gabbard may turn out to be Mr Trump’s potential working mate in November – a job that in the end fell to JD Vance.
Since leaving the Democratic Social gathering, she has turn out to be an everyday contributor to Fox Information and has been accused by Ukrainian officers of spreading “Russian propaganda.”
Gabbard’s feedback got here days after Trump secured an endorsement from one other Democratic defector, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who final week suspended his unbiased marketing campaign for the White Home.
Prime Democrats have been fast to dismiss Ms. Gabbard’s assist.
“As an alternative of specializing in successful over hard-working Individuals, Trump is extra centered on successful over extremists like Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who’re doing nothing however crush him,” the get together’s fast response director mentioned. Nothing will be completed exterior of the sinking marketing campaign.
