Washington DC — Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has become a fixture among conservatives since leaving the Democratic Party to become an independent two years ago.
An outspoken critic of President Biden and her former party, she is now rumored to be on the shortlist for former President Trump’s running mate — an unlikely possibility — and she is not shying away from that talk as debate intensifies ahead of next month’s Republican National Convention about the best choice for the GOP to attract undecided and moderate voters.
Fox News Digital spoke with Gabbard, who said in May she would be “honored” to join Trump as the Republican nominee, during a recent visit to Washington, D.C., where she spoke about the qualities needed in someone hoping to win the former president’s election.
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Tulsi Gabbard attends a live taping of Hannity at Fox News Channel Studios on September 13, 2023 in New York City. (Stephen Ferdman/Getty Images)
“To win, you have to engage people who aren’t already on your side or part of your base. This is important not just for the election, but for engaging the American people.”
“If President Trump wins, it’s also going to be about doing the hard work that follows to actually root out the corruption that’s endemic in the Washington establishment, root out the deep state, root out those who believe that their role in government is more important than the people of this country,” she said.
“We need to turn that around and remind the public that we should have a limited government that exists to serve the people, not the other way around.”
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Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Historic Greenbriar Farms in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA, Friday, June 28, 2024. (Parker Michels Boyce/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Those who have cited Gabbard as a potential alternative to President Trump point out that she may have the ability to attract moderates and independents, given her more liberal views on certain social positions and her view that the Democratic Party has become more radical over time.
Gabbard will leave the party in 2022, saying, “I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party, which is totally controlled by a group of elitist warmongers driven by a cowardly wokeness who racialize every issue in order to divide us and stoke racism against white people.”
She detailed the thought process behind her decision in her book, “For the Love of Country: Leaving the Democratic Party,” published earlier this year.
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Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard speaks to Fox News Digital in an interview on June 21, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Fox News Digital/Brandon Gillespie)
“When I announced I was leaving the Democratic Party, I received a flood of messages, emails, notes and direct messages from people who, as you just pointed out, felt the same way I did,” Gabbard told Fox when asked about the message in her book.
“I took the opportunity to speak in more detail not only about why I left the Democratic Party, but also about the experiences that led me to decide to leave a party I’d been a part of for over 20 years, and I realized that this might help others who are struggling with the political decision of whether to stay or leave the Democratic Party and, really importantly, how to vote in this election.”
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Gabbard said her book is a “very direct call to action” given the state of the party.
It is unclear when Trump will announce his running mate, but he suggested last month that he might do so at next month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. He told Fox News last week that he has already decided who his running mate will be, and later said that his choice would attend the first debate with Biden on Thursday in Atlanta.
The list of candidates accompanying Trump in Atlanta included Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, J.D. Vance of Ohio, Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, but notably absent was Ms. Gabbard.
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