Why I Would Advise Donald Trump Not to Pick Tulsi Gabbard for Vice President
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: Former President Donald Trump does not look to me for advice, and I am not so foolish as to think he would care to know my opinion, but that’s what I do: I write my opinions. I speak my opinions. So here’s my opinion: Trump should not choose Gabbard as his running mate.
Gabbard, the former representative from Hawaii, who ran for president in 2020 and left the Democrat party in 2022, is on Trump’s VP shortlist, by his own admission at a recent town hall moderated by Fox News’s Laura Ingraham. The crowd clearly loved the idea, as they broke out in applause when Ingraham mentioned Gabbard as a possible vice president. And why wouldn’t they love her? She embodies a love for the country, has noteworthy military service, served during the Iraq War, and is a lieutenant colonel and member of the Army Reserve, Furthermore, she has no tolerance for shredding our Constitution and falling in line to the left’s woke agenda.
So my adamance that she doesn’t belong on a Trump ticket is not that she doesn’t deserve to be received by the right because she once rode in on a donkey rather than an elephant. I do believe she should be received. But before I give my rather simple reason the former president should not consider Gabbard as his number 2, let’s take a look at the admirable reasons she left the Democrat party.
On her Substack in October 2022, Gabbard stated—in bold letters—“I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party.” She then went on to explain why. Here are just a few of her reasons [I’ve excluded her bold emphasis]:
“The pro-war Democratic Party has led us to the brink of nuclear war.” She used the terms “warmongers” and “military industrial complex.” She accused President Joe Biden of “push[ing] us to the precipice of nuclear war, risking starting WWIII and destroying the world as we know it.”
Democrats as a party are “undermining the rule of law.” Now, she pointed this out in 2022. We all know it’s nth times worse!
“The IRS was used to target conservative groups,” she pointed out, adding that parents who stood against sexually inappropriate content in public schools were targeted, demonized, and labeled “terrorists.”
The trampling of the First Amendment right to speech in favor of censorship was another factor in Gabbard leaving her home with the Democrat party. We have all heard the claims of “misinformation” and “hate speech.” The representative from Hawaii had enough of that.
She railed against the infringement of the freedom of religion, as well. “The Constitution recognizes that our freedom comes from God — not governments. Unfortunately, Democratic Party leaders reject this truth and are hostile toward people of faith and spirituality, and actively undermine our religious freedom,” she wrote.
I could continue, but you get the picture. So I reiterate, what’s not to love? Love her for sure. Appreciate the stands she has taken and her willingness to speak against her own former party. But don’t select her for such an office as the Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee—yet.
I believe Sarah Palin hit the nail on the head when Kimberly Guilfoyle asked her in January what characteristics Trump should look for in a vice presidential running mate. I wrote this in part:
The next characteristic [Palin] named is longevity. She stated well the propensity for the media and politicians to make heroes out of people who have zoomed in with a personality or performance and all of a sudden, they’re positioned on a pedestal—talked about as someone’s VP pick. Palin, however, warned against selecting someone “who’s hot today, who just said something spectacular.”
Even beloved people need time to be fully trusted. By that, I do not mean people should not trust that Gabbard means what she says about what she stands for. I have no reason to doubt that. But Palin, who was speaking in general, not about Gabbard, is correct. Sometimes, you have to hold off from jumping on someone who just jumped on board, and you have to let some time pass. Trump knows what it is to have picked some people who then stabbed him in the back, so loyalty is also important, which is another characteristic Palin highlighted. And not that Gabbard wouldn’t be loyal, but time tells those things—and she would not only be new to him; she is an independent, so the GOP is new to her still, and she’s new to not being a Democrat.