Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (R-Hawaii), who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 but later left the party, said Vice President Harris, who will face former President Trump in a debate this month, is “not to be underestimated.”
“I think Kamala Harris has the experience. She's a force to be reckoned with,” Gabbard said in an interview on CNN's “State of the Union,” in response to Harris' campaign calling Trump a “formidable opponent” and whether she viewed the Democratic candidate in the same way.
Gabbard has been preparing for a debate with the Republican presidential candidates in recent weeks, and said the upcoming debate will be “an opportunity for voters to compare the records of this Administration with those of the previous Administration.”
“President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have very different backgrounds. President Trump has served alongside President Biden for four years as President and Kamala Harris has served as Vice President for almost four years, making it a unique situation to have two candidates who have both served in the highest office in the land,” she continued.
Gabbard announced her support for Trump's 2024 presidential bid on Monday at a Michigan National Guard Association rally, where Trump was also speaking.
Gabbard ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2020 Democratic primary. Since deciding not to run, she has left Congress, quit the Democratic Party, appeared at events such as the Conservative Political Action Conference, and become a frequent presence in conservative media.
During Gabbard's loss in the 2020 presidential election, arguably the most notable moment came when she attacked Harris' record as a prosecutor on the debate stage.
“If I can be of any help to President Trump, it's just to share my experience with her in the 2020 debates,” Gabbard said in the interview, “and to help point out, frankly, how Kamala Harris has already demonstrated she is moving away from her track record and positions and how that is inconsistent with the positions and statements she's taking now as the Democratic nominee.”
Harris' campaign has pushed back against criticism that the vice president has changed her position on some issues, pointing out that she mentioned the changes in a recent CNN interview and that Trump has also changed his mind on some issues.
“In one policy after another, Trump has said one thing and done another,” the Harris administration memo said Saturday, pointing to issues including the child tax credit, IVF and marijuana legalization.
“Donald Trump has had a lengthy career spanning almost a decade as a presidential candidate, president and on-again presidential candidate. Backed into a corner, Trump is suddenly trying to pretend to be an entirely different candidate and frantically push his past positions and statements into the back of people's memory. This will not work – voters will see through Trump's lies over the next 66 days,” the memo added. “Trump must be held accountable for his brazen back-and-forth behavior that is completely inconsistent with how he should govern as president.”
