Tipsheet

Here's What Former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard Has to Say About Kamala Harris on the Debate Stage

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  September 03, 2024 5:00 PM

Although she dropped out of the 2020 primary before any primary contests even occurred, Vice President Kamala Harris managed to make it to the debate stage a few times. Among the more memorable moments from that cycle included exchanges between Harris and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), who has since become an Independent and endorsed Donald Trump for president. She's also helping to prep Trump ahead of the September 10 debate. During her Sunday appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," Gabbard discussed Harris being on the debate stage as one of the many topics addressed.

As the very first question, host Dana Bash asked Gabbard if Harris would be "a formidable opponent" for Trump. "Yes, I think Kamala Harris has a lot of experience," the former congresswoman offered. "She is not to be underestimated."

Her experience is not necessarily a good thing, though, as Gabbard went on to remind Bash that Harris serves as President Joe Biden's vice president and also that her record is "very different" from Trump's record. 

"President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have very different records. This is a unique situation where we have two candidates who have served at the highest offices in the land, President Trump four years as President Kamala Harris, now almost four years as vice president, working alongside President Biden," Gabbard offered, also speaking about "an opportunity" for Trump.

"And so this will be an opportunity for voters to look at and compare and contrast those records. If I can be helpful to President Trump in any way, it really is just sharing experience that I had with her on that debate stage in 2020 and, frankly, helping to point out some ways that Kamala Harris has already shown that she is trying to move away from her record, move away from her positions, and how that contradicts the positions and statements that she is making now that she is the Democratic nominee," Gabbard continued, speaking about her own experience up against Harris.

With Bash's next question delving further into those memorable debate moments, Gabbard reminded that "what I pointed out in that debate stage in the 2020 campaign was her hypocrisy," especially on the issue of criminal justice reform.

"It was how she was saying one thing and doing another, how she was prosecuting people for smoking marijuana and laughing about it when she was asked about it on a radio show," Gabbard said, speaking to the specific issue. But, her response also touched upon how this is a habit overall for Harris, as Gabbard added, "I think this goes to the heart of many of these different issues that we're seeing now that Kamala Harris is trying to hide from voters is how she says her position is one thing, but her actions and her record show exactly the opposite."

Gabbard spoke on even more personal matters from there, as she reminded that she had been added to a secret domestic terror watch list in late July.

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"Most recently, I can point to my own experience of this of how the Harris-Biden administration have added me to a secret domestic terror watch list the very day after Kamala Harris was endorsed by Joe Biden and I was on TV and warning the American people about what I saw as the dangers of a Kamala Harris presidency, taking action that was clearly political retaliation," Gabbard spoke about. "They have done this to a lot of different people, which points to how dangerous it is to have people in power so willing to abuse that power to go after political opponents," she warned.

Despite how such stunning news was covered last month, with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) looking for answers, Bash claimed she was "not familiar with the secret terror watch list." Although she noted "we're definitely going to follow up on that," she still wanted to move on. 

Gabbard had perfect responses for that next topic as well, as Bash asked her about Trump's visit to Arlington National Cemetery last week. Harris and the mainstream media have shamefully slammed Trump on Afghanistan and have also focused on an alleged "incident" between a member of Trump's team and a worker at the cemetery and how he took pictures with Gold Star Family members. Trump was on-site to meet with the family members of those 13 U.S. servicemembers killed on August 26, 2021, in Kabul. 

"I did not see or hear about any kind of altercation until something came out in the news later on. The families were there grieving alongside President Trump," Gabbard explained to Bash. "And it was a very special moment to really remember their names, remember their memories, and understand the true cost of war and the consequences of the decisions that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden made in the execution of that withdrawal."

Gabbard also spoke out against another narrative to do with footage being taken, and where the outrage should really be. 

"As a soldier and as someone who has been deployed to different war zones in the world -- and I have friends who are buried there at Section 60 -- what is more outrageous to me is that there wasn't universal coverage of the momentous day of the third anniversary of the loss of these 13 Gold Star families and the outrage that they feel that they -- that their loved ones are not getting the kind of coverage and memory that their great sacrifice deserves," Gabbard made clear. "That is what everyone should be outraged about."

On another Sunday show, NBC News' "Meet the Press," Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) similarly spoke out against the false narratives from Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media on Trump and Afghanistan. 

NBC News even had to issue a correction for claiming Harris was present for the dignified transfer of the servicemembers when she was not.