Tulsi Gabbard, who ran for 2020 Democratic nomination, endorses Trump

Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential bid, furthering her shift away from the social gathering she sought to symbolize 4 years in the past and linking herself to the GOP nominee’s critiques of Vice President Kamala Harris and the chaotic Afghanistan Conflict withdrawal.

Showing Monday with Trump in Detroit, Gabbard, a Nationwide Guard veteran who served two excursions of responsibility within the Center East earlier than representing Hawaii within the U.S. Home, mentioned the GOP nominee “understands the grave accountability {that a} president and commander in chief bears for each single certainly one of our lives.”

The pair appeared on the Nationwide Guard Affiliation of the USA on the third anniversary of the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai Worldwide Airport, which killed 13 U.S. service members and greater than 100 Afghans. Gabbard accompanied Trump earlier Monday to Arlington Nationwide Cemetery, the place the previous president laid wreaths in honor of three of the slain service members — Sgt. Nicole Gee, Workers Sgt. Darin Hoover and Workers Sgt. Ryan Knauss.

On Monday, Gabbard praised Trump for “having the braveness to fulfill with adversaries, dictators, allies and companions alike within the pursuit of peace, seeing struggle as a final resort.” She condemned the Democratic White Home for the U.S. now “going through a number of wars on a number of fronts in areas all over the world and nearer to the brink of nuclear struggle than we ever have been earlier than.”

The previous president’s workforce introduced later Monday that Gabbard would reasonable a city corridor with Trump that the marketing campaign was planning for Thursday in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Gabbard has lengthy signaled some degree of assist for Trump, even whereas she sat within the U.S. Home as a Democrat. In 2019, she was the one lawmaker to vote “current” when the Home of Representatives impeached Trump for his dealings with Ukraine.

Gabbard was identified throughout her 4 Home phrases for taking positions at odds along with her personal social gathering’s institution. She was an early and vocal supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 Democratic presidential major run, which made her standard with progressives.

Not in search of reelection in 2020, Gabbard ran for president herself as an alternative, saying U.S. wars within the Center East destabilized the area, made the U.S. much less protected and price hundreds of American lives, and that Democrats and Republicans shared the blame. She tore into Harris’ document throughout a major debate and in the end outlasted her in that race, which President Joe Biden in the end gained.

Gabbard endorsed Biden however turned an unbiased two years later, saying the Democratic Occasion was dominated by an “elitist cabal of warmongers” and “woke” ideologues. Within the years since she has campaigned for a number of high-profile Republicans, turn into a contributor to Fox Information and began a podcast.

One other former Democratic presidential contender additionally only recently endorsed Trump. Final week, unbiased candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who final 12 months ran as a Democrat difficult Biden for the nomination — suspended his marketing campaign and mentioned he was backing Trump within the basic election.

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Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and could be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP. McAvoy reported from Honolulu, Hawaii.