That Cabinet Again? (7)
/Tulsi Gabbard – shape-shifter
Of all the cabinet nominations by President-Elect Donald Trump that I’ve researched, the selection of Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence has been the most confusing. While I try in every case to be as even-handed as possible in presenting the facts about the nominee, in this case, the facts themselves are so contradictory and shape-shifting that I struggle to assemble them in logical fashion. Much of her background makes her an absolute puzzlement; other facts about her suggest (at least to me) that she doesn’t even fit the MAGA mold. Let me try to explain.
What about the “Christianity” thing?
Tulsi Gabbard is not a Christian. Isn’t that supposed to be a red flag? Aren’t most of Mr. Trump’s cabinet ministers Christian nationalists? She says, herself, that she grew up with Hindu values and follows the Vaishnava tradition of the Hindu faith as outlined in the Bhagavad Gita. In fact, she took the oath of office in 2013 with her personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita, and her second marriage was a traditional Vedic ceremony. What is all this I’ve been hearing from other Trump loyalists about the US being a Christian nation, that anyone ascribing to Islam, for example, must be a terrorist, that we should adopt Christianity as the national religion and have bibles in classrooms? This woman says publicly that she ascribes to “the Hindu faith.” So she’s not a Christian, and that’s going to be okay in the Trump cabinet?
The lady has experience in government and the military, which could be a plus, but her professional affiliations and political loyalties have been spinning on a gyroscope throughout her life. I can’t reliably identify who she is today. Where to start? How about we begin with military service, then outline her government experience, and then discuss her shifting political loyalties?
First a bit more about her personal life and education, though. Gabbard was born in American Somoa but grew up in Hawaii. She was mostly home schooled. At age 21 she dropped out of college to run for the Hawaii state legislature and was elected. Seven years later she did earn a BS in Business Administration from Hawaii Pacific University.
Legislature and Military – mixed
While serving in the state legislature, she joined the Hawaii Army National Guard in 2003 and was deployed to Iraq from 2004 to 2005, where she served as a specialist with a medical unit. After graduating at the top of her class from the Alabama Military Academy (the first woman to do so), she was stationed in Kuwait for a year with the Army Military Police. In 2015 she became a major with the National Guard, but in 2020 she transferred to the Army Reserve, becoming a civil affairs officer in Africa at the rank of lieutenant colonel.
So, 17 years in the National Guard, and then a shift to the US Army Reserve. First a medical specialist, then a military policewoman, and then a civil affairs commander. I just don’t see any consistency or meaningful path. But let’s move on to her government experience.
Ballot printed – candidate gone!
She started with two years in the Hawaii House of Representatives at a very young age. While poised to run for a second term, with her name already on the ballot, Gabbard announced she’d joined the National Guard and wouldn’t run after all. Five years later, having served in the Middle East with that medical unit, she ran for Honolulu City Council and won in 2011. In the same year she announced her candidacy for the US House of Representatives seat about to be vacated by Mazie Hirono. She won 55% of the votes in a six-way primary and so resigned from City Council.
At the invitation of Nancy Pelosi, Gabbard spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. She won 80% of the votes in Hawaii to become the first Samoan-American and the first Hindu member of Congress. That was November. In December, she applied to be considered for appointment to the US Senate seat vacated by the death of Danial Inouye; she was not appointed. As she had done in the Honolulu City Council, Gabbard introduced and passed some important legislation. She won re-election in 2014 and continued to introduce successful, meaningful legislation.
Never a lightweight
She was re-elected for a third and fourth term in the House. In 2017 she introduced the “OFF Act”: Off Fossil Fuels, seeking to achieve clean energy by 2035. The next year she introduced a bill that would require all districts to use paper ballots. Then, in 2019 she announced that she would not seek re-election to the House, as she was running for president! Still, she managed to co-sponsor a bill with Matt Gaetz in 2020 calling for all charges against Edward Snowden to be dropped. She joined a Kentucky congressman to co-sponsor a similar bill releasing Julian Assange from prison in the UK.
In her total years serving in the US House of Representatives (2013-2021), Gabbard served on several important committees, including Homeland Security, Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Financial Services.
A strong Democrat
She also logged several years of service to the Democratic National Committee, unanimously elected as vice-chair in 2013. She publicly criticized the chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, in 2015. It has been suggested that she was subsequently asked not to attend a Democratic debate in October 2015. She also wrote a private note to Schultz, accusing her of violating the duty of neutrality for the DNC by favoring Hillary Clinton.
And then, in early 2016, Gabbard resigned as DNC vice chair to endorse Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination. She ultimately gave his official nominating speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Shortly after the election, she was mentioned as a possible candidate for president. In February 2019, she officially launched her campaign to run for president. In July she was the only 2020 presidential candidate to visit Puerto Rico and join protests urging Governor Ricardo Rosselló to resign.
Hillary Clinton spoke of Gabbard as a female Democrat being “groomed” by the Republicans to run as a third-party candidate to boost Donald Trump’s chances. Clinton also called her “a favorite of the Russians.” Gabbard sued Clinton for defamation; five months later her lawyers convinced her to drop the suit.
Delegates dropped: new direction
And then, on March 19, 2020, having won some primary delegates, Gabbard dropped out of the presidential race to endorse Joe Biden, ultimately making her the only candidate with delegates not to be invited to the 2020 Democratic National Convention. She participated in some high-profile press events in the next few months (unrelated to any campaign) and changed the name of her presidential campaign committee.
2021 brought a whole new kaleidoscope, first with the launch of her podcast, “This is Tulsi Gabbard.” She went on Fox News and publicly criticized Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, calling the latter a “domestic terrorist” for trying to hold the January 6 rioters accountable. In November she celebrated the victory of Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin over Terry McAuliffe for Virginia governor, alluding to racial division and the potential stripping of parental rights. Back again on Fox News, she promoted the Florida Parental Rights Bill, and then, in 2022, she was a featured speaker at CPAC. (If you are confused, I apologize. I, too, am confused.)
Rejection of the Democratic party
“On October 11, 2022, Gabbard announced on Twitter that she was leaving the Democratic Party, accusing its leadership of ‘cowardly wokeness, anti-white racism,’ (being) hostile to people of faith and spirituality, and dragging us closer to nuclear war,” according to Wikipedia. She then openly endorsed several Republicans for US Senate, including J.D. Vance and Kari Lake. By then she was already a regular on Fox News, sometimes filling in for Tucker Carlson; she even became a paid contributor.
When Donald Trump formally entered the race for the 2024 presidential election, Gabbard was quickly mentioned as a possible pick for running mate. She publicly pronounced her willingness to serve in such capacity and went on to endorse Trump’s bid for the presidency. In August 2024, she was named co-chair of the Trump transition team, alongside Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. And then, a few weeks later, speaking at a Trump rally, Gabbard announced she would be joining the Republican Party.
And now she’s a Republican
Within weeks after that announcement, she was nominated by Mr. Trump to be his next Director of National Intelligence. Why? Well, 20 years of military service. And “a fearless spirit.” And the likelihood she could secure “peace through strength.” Responses included allegations of “controversial foreign positions on Russia, China, Syria, and Iran,” although the New York Times claims there is no evidence she has collaborated with Russia’s intelligence agencies. (Call me naïve: I never thought I’d see the day when a potential Director of National Intelligence was being discussed in terms of whether or not she had actually been collaborating with the enemy. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned.)
Rather than insert myself into the back-and-forth in the media and by pols about her appropriateness for the job, how about I close this out with a quick summary of the positions she has taken on various issues? In general, her switch from Democrat to Republican paralleled her transition, in about 2020, to more conservative perspectives, including in relation to abortion, gun control and transgender rights. By 2022 she was introducing legislation to ban transgender women from women’s sports, and she’s now become a vocal critic of Joe Biden, whom she had endorsed in 2020. She has said she wants to legalize marijuana, end cash bail, and ban private prisons. She’s even expressed interest in legalizing and regulating all drugs. She apparently wants military personnel to be free to use CBD and hemp derivatives.
On again, off again...
Gabbard has waffled on immigration and access to citizenship over the years, as both a Democrat and a Republican. Sometimes she favors an easier path to citizenship and an increase in skilled immigration, and other times she favors a strong border wall. One area where she’s been pretty consistent is the need to protect the environment, including support for first-nation peoples. She supports national healthcare insurance for all, but holds a place for private insurance too, offering a two-tiered model similar to Australia’s.
On the first impeachment of Donald Trump, Gabbard voted “present.” She said she wanted to “censure him” to send a message about his abuses of power.
Concerning LGBTQ rights, Wikipedia says, “Gabbard’s views on LGBTQ rights have changed over the years, as evidenced by her 2013 signing of an amicus brief supporting gay marriage, while, in her early years, she was associated with her father's campaign opposing gay marriage.” The latter was when she was 17, and she subsequently apologized for that. She supported the repeal of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) and actually was a member of the LGBTQ Equality Caucus. But then, in 2020, she introduced the “Protect Women’s Sports” act, and the Human Rights Campaign, which had always lauded her, announced she “had lost all credibility as an ally.”
Is she loyal to the US?
I’m exhausted. And confused. I could go on and on now about Gabbard’s foreign policy positions, but I feel like I’m going in circles. NBC News reported just the other day that “her views on Russia and Syria shocked, puzzled and alarmed her colleagues.” They reported that she “had repeatedly defended the Syrian regime and even met its leader, Bashar al-Assad.” The NBC source goes on to say that both Democrats and Republicans worry that, “ If confirmed [as Director of National Intelligence], Gabbard would have access to a trove of top secret material and have the final word on what spy agencies share with the president in regular intelligence briefings.” (Well, duh!)
According to Politico, also very recently, “’The best thing that Tulsi has going for her is the other Trump nominees that are blowing themselves up,’ a former senior Republican Senate staffer said.” The source goes on to say, “She has never worked in intelligence and has espoused views that appear sympathetic to Russia and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.” (Of course, by the time I’m typing this, Assad has fled Syrian and the rebels are in control.)
ABC News recently reported “Tulsi Gabbard's rosy posture toward Moscow has prompted some Democratic critics to suggest that she could be ‘compromised,’ or perhaps even a ‘Russian asset’– claims the ex-Hawaii representative and Army officer has forcefully denied.” As I said, I could go on and on and cite other sources, but I think we’ve seen enough. I, for one, am overwhelmed, asking myself, who is this Tulsi Gabbard? And what on earth does Donald Trump see in her that would make him choose her, over all the loyal MAGAts that actually have some qualifications in the area of Intelligence?
Can we trust her?
Even more significant: Does Tulsi Gabbard know who she is? Will she have reversed herself again by January 20, 2025? Will she ever know what she really believes, to what values she can permanently commit? Or is she a shape-shifter for life? And, if I have to ask these questions, can I trust her? Surely Donald Trump can see this... No???