In June 2022, I participated in a debate with Tulsi Gabbard at a Broadway theater.
For months, the lineup for my panel was two right-wing influencers (James O’Keefe and Tim Pool), me and a “second leftist” yet to be determined. After some back-and-forth about possible names, they decided that the “second leftist” would be former then- Democratic Hawaiian Rep. Gabbard.
I wasn’t enthusiastic about the prospect. I’d long distrusted Gabbard, whose political history included several dramatic reversals.
Gabbard, like me, supported democratic socialist presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the 2016 Democratic primary. But then Gabbard ran against Sanders in 2020, even endorsing Joe Biden while Sanders was still in the race. And it seemed obvious to me in summer 2022 that her politics were shifting yet again.
In October 2022, she made a big show of “leaving the Democrat Party.” Then in 2024, Gabbard endorsed Donald Trump, completing her transformation from Sanders supporter to MAGA loyalist.
The most generous interpretation of this pivot, and her subsequent decision to join his administration as Trump’s director of national intelligence, is that she genuinely believed that the second term would be better. I was never inclined to be that generous. Anyone willing to give Gabbard the benefit of the doubt, though, got a rude awakening when Trump attacked Iran last summer.
This is a preview of Ben Burgis’ latest column. Read the full column here.
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