Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard teed off on a prospective Kamala Harris presidency, saying the vice president was "incapable" and "unqualified" to lead the country.
Calls for President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race have grown after his concerning debate performance against former President Donald Trump late last month as some have speculated how that reality would play out if Harris assumed his spot at the top of the ticket. Others, however, have suggested another candidate may challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination during the Democratic National Convention next month.
Gabbard, who ran against Harris during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, gave her thoughts on a prospective Harris presidency amidst controversy surrounding Biden's ability to remain president during a Monday appearance on Fox News.
When asked by host Laura Ingraham if Gabbard thought Harris believed she was "smart and effective," the former Hawaii representative agreed.
"Without a doubt, she believes this,” Gabbard replied. “I can’t even begin to analyze why that is the case. She has been unqualified to serve as vice president and is not qualified or capable at all for the very real prospect that if Biden wins, she will be president of the United States. That’s a fact."
"Regardless of who’s on the top of the ticket as the Democrats figure this thing out, whether it’s Biden-Harris or Harris-whoever, a President Kamala Harris will be our Commander-In-Chief," Gabbard added, suggesting that reality should be "terrifying for all Americans."
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“She is incapable and unqualified to be our country’s commander-in-chief, which then leads to what I know to be certain," Gabbard continued. "Just as Joe Biden is not calling the shots on our foreign policy, he’s got Tony Blinken and Hillary Clinton and Jake Sullivan and Lloyd Austin and all of these other people in the deep state administrative state who are not elected, who are actually making these decisions related to our foreign policy, who have pushed us to the brink of multiple wars, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and closer to the brink of nuclear war than ever before."
"If it is a President Kamala Harris, a Commander-in-Chief Kamala Harris, it will be the very same deep state making these decisions that have done such great harm to our own national security and to our freedom as a country,” she added.
During the 2019 Democratic primary debates, Gabbard infamously teed off on Harris' record as a state prosecutor by noting over 1,500 people were incarcerated under her for marijuana-related violations, despite Harris jokingly admitting to previously smoking marijuana during a radio appearance.
"She blocked evidence — she blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so," Gabbard said. "She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California. And she fought to keep a bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way."
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“The bottom line is, Senator Harris, when you were in a position to make a difference and an impact in these people’s lives, you did not," Gabbard continued. "And worse yet, in the case of those who were on death row, innocent people, you actually blocked evidence from being revealed that would have freed them until you were forced to do so. There is no excuse for that and the people who suffered under your reign as prosecutor owe — you owe them an apology.”
