Nearly a decade ago, former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard was making a name for herself inside Democratic circles on Capitol Hill.
In 2012, she spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, and then won a landslide victory in her election to the House of Representatives. The former Hawaii representative served as a vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee from 2013 to 2016 and eventually resigned to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for president in 2016. She ran for the Democratic presidential nomination herself but ultimately ended her candidacy in March 2020 to endorse Joe Biden.
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However, over time, she became an outspoken critic of the Democratic Party, appearing frequently on Fox News and even filling in for former host Tucker Carlson. In 2022, she left the Democratic Party as a result of what she said was “growing wokeness, racism, and intolerance.”
Her transformation from a Democratic Party rising star to an anti-establishment warrior championed by Republicans was on full display as she spoke at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference. She has a spot on former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential short list and is set to headline a keynote fundraising speech at Mar-a-Lago.
She recently met with the front-runner for the GOP nomination to talk about foreign policy and how the Pentagon should be run during a second Trump term. A woman of color and a veteran, Gabbard has staked out a role as an outspoken critic of U.S. military interventions overseas and a critic of aid to Ukraine.
A poster advertising Gabbard’s book, “For Love of Country: Why I Left the Democratic Party,” was prominently displayed inside the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center last week, even though the book has yet to be released. Her speech at CPAC on Thursday was met with enthusiasm and a standing ovation from attendees there. The former congresswoman came in third place in a straw poll at the conference, in which 9% of attendees voted for her to become Trump’s running mate.
After listening to Gabbard speak, Deena Hailoo, a Republican voter from New York who attended the conference last week, said the ex-Democrat would be the best candidate to become Trump’s vice president.
“First of all, she’s young,” said Hailoo, who is an internal medicine physician. “She knows all the issues well, and she has been speaking boldly, and she’s not afraid — she’s a patriot. Tulsi Gabbard is sort of an unexpected person, just because she saw the light and left the dark side, I guess you could say.”
Hailoo believes Gabbard could be the perfect running mate to pull in disaffected Democrats who are on the fence about voting for another Biden presidency.
“I really think she could appeal to some Democrats who are just unhappy with the direction the party is going in — but, I guess, what would I know?” Hailoo said. “She appealed to me as a former Democrat, and I’m a conservative.”
However, not all CPAC attendees think her background as a former Democrat would be helpful if Trump picked her as his running mate.
“Even though she left the Democratic Party, I still think she has a lot of Democratic values, and that worries me,” said Cathy Speranza, a Republican voter from New Jersey. “She’s a strong woman, I really like her a lot, but I do think there’s other people that he could pick that would be just as strong.”
In her speech to CPAC attendees, Gabbard warned that democracy is under attack, criticizing the Department of Justice’s prosecution of Trump, a message she has regularly conveyed on Fox News, accusing the FBI and Justice Department of targeting Biden’s political opponents.
“It’s nice to hear a former Democrat talking about how ridiculous these witch hunts against Trump have been and speaking out against it,” said Derek Langston, a voter from Loudoun County, Virginia. “I’m unsure if she will be chosen as a VP candidate, but Trump certainly should consider her for his Cabinet.”
Several Republican insiders are hoping Trump will not go with Gabbard as a VP pick.
“The enemy of our enemy doesn’t exactly make them our friend,” said a Republican consultant who asked to stay anonymous due to ties to the Trump campaign. “The reality of it is Tulsi has shown she is not loyal in the past when she decided to turn away from Democrats. It just feels like she’s an opportunist who doesn’t really have a core constituency she can bring to the table that’s going to help Trump win in a midterm election.
“To be honest, I think it would be helpful to have a candidate who is actually a Democrat and has not left the party, instead of one that has left, but I don’t think that person exists,” the person added.
Former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, who got a shoutout from Trump on the CPAC stage on Saturday, said he likes Gabbard but does not believe she is the kind of VP candidate the country needs at this time.
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“I don’t think she’s the one I’d want to be second in command,” Santorum told the Washington Examiner. “I have some real concerns about her national security positions, and that would sort of disqualify her for that.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Gabbard and her team for comment, but they did not respond.