Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party in 2022, endorsed former President Donald Trump Monday at an event with National Guard members.
Ms. Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve, said Mr. Trump is the most qualified candidate to lead on foreign policy and she denounced the Biden administration for portraying weakness on the world stage and inciting wars.
“This administration has us facing multiple wars on multiple fronts and regions around the world, and closer to the brink of nuclear war than we ever have been before. This is one of the main reasons why I’m committed to doing all that I can to send President Trump back to the White House where he can once again serve us as our commander in chief,” Ms. Gabbard said at the event in Detroit with the National Guard Association.
She’s the second prominent former Democrat to throw support behind Mr. Trump this month.
Former Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was running for president as an independent, suspended his campaign on Friday and endorsed Mr. Trump.
Ms. Gabbard served as a Democrat in the House, representing Hawaii’s 2nd district from 2013-2021. She is also a former presidential candidate. She ran in the Democratic presidential primary in 2020 but quit the race in March of that year to endorse Mr. Biden.
She was vice chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013-2016.
Since 2022, she has largely turned on her former party.
She credited Mr. Trump on Monday for keeping the United States out of new wars overseas and working to end U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as withdrawing troops from other conflict areas.
“He exercised the courage that we expect from our commander in chief in exhausting measures of diplomacy, having the courage to meet with adversaries, dictators, allies and partners alike in the pursuit of peace, seeing war as a last resort,” Ms. Gabbard said.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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