Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday said Sen. Kamala D. Harris is not qualified to be president because she lacks the foreign policy credentials and temperament to lead the nation on the global stage.
“I think one of the things that I am most concerned with is Kamala Harris is not qualified to serve as commander-in-chief,” the Hawaii Democrat said on Outkick the Coverage with Clay Travis. “I can say this from a personal perspective as a soldier. She has no background or experience in foreign policy and she lacks the temperament that is necessary for a commander-in-chief.”
Ms. Gabbard, who served in Iraq as a member of the Hawaii National Guard, said she has seen firsthand what it is like to have presidents who lack foreign policy experience fall under the influence of the “foreign policy establishment” and the “military industrial complex.”
Lily Adams, spokesperson for the Harris campaign, dismissed Ms. Gabbard’s comments, suggesting she has blemishes on her record.
“Definite hard pass on taking national security advice from Assad’s cheerleader,” Ms. Adams said on Twitter.
Ms. Gabbard met with Syrian President Bashar Assad during a “fact-finding” mission to the war-torn country in 2017. She has opposed U.S. military’s involvement in Syria’s civil war and has refused to label Mr. Assad an enemy of the United States, arguing that kind of rhetoric could help pave the way for a “regime-change” war that she wants to avoid.
Ms. Gabbard and Ms. Harris, of California, will share the stage on the second night of the back-to-back Democratic presidential debates next week in Detroit.
Ms. Gabbard has argued that the first debate was not fair, saying that MSNBC favored Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in the first showdown by giving her more time.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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