Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) took shots at Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and her prosecutorial record during Wednesday night's Democratic Debate.
"Senator Harris says she's proud of her record as a prosecutor and she'll be a prosecutor as president. But I'm deeply concerned about this record. There are too many examples to cite but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana," Gabbard said. "She 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 cash bail systems in place. That impacts poor people in the worst kind of way."
Tulsi exposes Kamala on criminal justice reform --> https://t.co/4wBxwnU6EF #TUSL2020 #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/RIQID8uw7U
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) August 1, 2019
Gabbard was asked about aspects of the debate during a Thursday appearance on MSNBC's “Live with Ali Velshi," at which point Gabbard accused host Yasmin Vossoughian of being fed talking points from Sen. Kamala Harris' (D-CA) presidential campaign.
The claim came about when Vossoughian questioned Gabbard about her meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Daily Caller reported.
Vossoughian wanted to know if Gabbard's meeting with al-Assad is the same as Gabbard's claim that President Donald Trump supports Al-Qaeda. Gabbard was offended by the thought.
"I don't know how you could equate that," she responded.
"- that you'd be meeting with the leader of Syria, that would be responsible for the killings of over half a million people who ordered the chemical attacks on children in his own country?" Vossoughian asked.
According to the Congresswoman, she would meet with the president or leader of any country if it meant establishing peace and keeping her fellow brother and sisters in uniform out of harms way.
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“If that means meeting with a dictator, meeting with an adversary in order to accomplish that mission of keeping the American people safe, making sure our troops are not continuing to be sent on these wasteful wars putting their lives at risk and making sure we’ve got the resources for the American people, I will do what is necessary,” she explained.
"So you don't see the parallels there -" Vossoughian asked.
Gabbard referenced to former presidents meeting with various dictators and other world leaders during their time.
"So, why meeting with people like Stalin or meeting with Bashar al-Assad but not necessarily meeting with the leaders of Saudi Arabai or meeting or having a relationship with them?" Vossoughian asked. She said she wanted to get Gabbard's take because there "seems to be some inconsistencies" with what the Congresswoman was saying.
Gabbard made it clear she believed MSNBC was running with Harris' talking points because the California Senator refuses to address the issues with her record. Specifically, the Congresswoman was referencing the al-Assad meeting, which Harris continually launches at Gabbard.
“Every time I come back here on MSNBC, you guys talk to me about these issues. It sounds like these are talking points that Kamala Harris and her campaign are feeding you because she’s refusing to address the questions that were posed to her,” Gabbard said.
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