Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday said the release of a transcript of a July call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky didn’t change the calculus for her on whether Mr. Trump should be impeached.
“I’m not a lawyer, but I think most people reading through that transcript are not going to find that extremely compelling cause to throw out a president that won an election in 2016,” Ms. Gabbard said on Hill TV.
“And instead what I think most people will see is, hey, this is another move by Democrats to get rid of Donald Trump, further deepening the already hyperpartisan divides that we have in this country. And that’s really where I’m coming from,” she said.
Ms. Gabbard, who has said impeaching the president would be too divisive for the country, went on to call Mr. Trump “corrupt” and “unfit” to serve as president.
“I’m running for president to defeat him. I just think it’s so important for our country to be able to move forward, to bridge these divides, that it be the American people that make this decision,” she said.
The White House released a transcript of the call on Wednesday that did not show Mr. Trump threaten to withhold military aid unless Mr. Zelensky agreed to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and his business dealings in Ukraine.
Mr. Trump did suggest that Mr. Zelensky look into Mr. Biden’s claim that he pushed to get rid of a prosecutor who had reportedly been eyeing an energy company where his son had been on the board.
“He is using his position for his own political gain. I think that’s very clear. It’s also not surprising,” Ms. Gabbard said of Mr. Trump. “This is something Donald Trump has been doing throughout his time in the White House.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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