Morning Wire XX
[0] Since running for president as a Democrat in 2020, Tulsi Gabbard has since left the party, and she's become increasingly vocal about what she says are the elitist and woke elements leading the left down a dark path.
[1] Her criticism has resulted in some fiery debates and left -leaning venues, including on shows like The View.
[2] Some of you have accused me of being a traitor to my country, a Russian asset, a Trojan horse, or a useful, a useful, a useful.
[3] We haven't accused you.
[4] A useful idiot, I think, was the term that you used, which basically means that I'm naive or lack intelligence to know what's going on.
[5] They use that.
[6] Franklin Graham finds you refreshing.
[7] He doesn't find me refreshing.
[8] Richard Spencer, the white nationalist leader, says he could vote for you.
[9] Joy, this is why.
[10] I mean, you're on Tepper -Colson at least 10 times.
[11] Why don't you go on Chris Wallace's show?
[12] This is why I'm here, because you and other people continue to spread these innuendos that, have nothing to do with who I am.
[13] In this episode, we sit down with Gabber to discuss her new book documenting her turn away from the Democrats and why she believes the elites are leading the country to disaster.
[14] I'm Daily Wire editor -in -chief John Bickley.
[15] It's Saturday, May 18th, and this is an extra edition of Morning Wire.
[16] Joining us now to discuss her political journey and her new book for Love of Country, Leave the Democrat Party Behind, is former Hawaii.
[17] Hawaii Congresswoman and Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard.
[18] Tulsi, thank you for coming on.
[19] Thank you very much for having.
[20] So first to start with your disavowal of the Democratic Party, what specific events or developments led you to conclude that the party has become controlled, as you put it by an elitist cabal of warmongers and driven by woke ideology?
[21] There are a number of events, actions, and policies that took place over time.
[22] It became more and more significant throughout the eight years that I served in Congress, throughout the four, almost four years that I served as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.
[23] And of course, when I ran for president in the 2020 Democratic primary, their actions, even since under the Biden administration, have taken something that was already heading towards a dangerous place and really putting it on steroids to the point where I could no longer be associated with a party that was against freedom, actively trying to undermine our fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, and one that is continuing to push us closer and closer to the brink of World War III and nuclear catastrophe.
[24] They care more about power than they do about the Constitution, the American people, and freedom, and they have shown and continue to show that they are willing to do anything and everything, even destroy our Democratic Republic in order to hold on to or gain more power.
[25] And you say you've seen this escalate over the course of the Biden administration.
[26] How so?
[27] What are some of the ways it's done so?
[28] Oh, gosh.
[29] I mean, the both direct and indirect censorship of Americans, they do this through their friends in big tech, and they do this under the guise, as has been the norm for a very long time when the government overreaches its bounds into trying to exert more control, they always tell us it's for our own good, that we have to protect you, the American people, from so -called misinformation or disinformation or hate speech, but really what it turns out to be, and we're seeing more and more evidence of this, is they're actually just trying to silence those who are critics of their policies and their positions, or their power, abusive power, rather, and make sure that we are seeing and hearing information that they want us to see.
[30] I said, oh gosh, because there are so many different examples, and this is what I get into in my book, dedicating each chapter to an egregious violation of power and fundamentally them putting the interests of themselves and their party, their political party, over the interests of the American people and our country.
[31] In this election specifically, they have become more and more brazen in their abuse of power, directly undermining and destroying our democracy and doing so in the name of saving democracy, trying to limit who we are allowed to vote for on the ballot, trying to limit what information we're allowed to see and hear about President Biden and his opponent, President Trump, and of course, weaponizing the Department of Justice and law enforcement at different levels to keep President Trump off the campaign trail and keep them tied up in court, draining him of time and resources.
[32] They're unable to compete on substance and on their record.
[33] And so they're abusing their power saying that they have to do this.
[34] They have to limit what we can say and what we can see and hear in the name of saving democracy.
[35] And one of the terms we hear a lot, wokeism or woke ideology, that comes up in your book.
[36] You make the argument that that's something that's corrupting the Democratic Party.
[37] Can you speak to that a little bit more.
[38] What is woke ideology?
[39] How do you define it and how is it problematic for the party?
[40] You know, it takes many different forms and really it is whatever their quote unquote cause is of the day.
[41] It's it's, you know, the purity tests of are you a true social justice warrior?
[42] And if you don't do these things, if you're not walking and protesting around the cause of the day, if you are not committing yourself to the cause of anti -white racism, that all white people are racist and they are the oppressor and all people of color are the oppressed.
[43] And therefore, in the name of equity, one group of our society should be made to feel guilty and limited in opportunity while the other section of our society should be given special opportunity or should be given special treatment.
[44] And I think there are, again, many examples of this.
[45] We can get into the trans ideology that's being indoctrinated into our kids, that in the name of quote unquote gender affirming care, they are actually advocating for child abuse and mutilation of kids with irreversible surgeries.
[46] Again, in the name of, well, we're actually caring for our children.
[47] But as, you know, Daily Wire has documented very well with Matt Walsh, Chloe Cole is a great example that represents so many who have fallen victim to what they are doing.
[48] And when Chloe decided that it was the wrong decision and wanted to detransition, they all of a sudden didn't care for her at all.
[49] This is what's so dangerous is they've really, fundamentally, when it comes right down to it, they're putting themselves in the position.
[50] They are trying to be God.
[51] And they want to be the arbiters of what is true and what is not true.
[52] They want to be the arbiters of what is right and what is wrong.
[53] what we can do and what we can't do, which is, of course, it is the most dangerous, offensive position to take, but it's also, what makes it so dangerous is that they justify their actions in the name of good intentions or doing good for other people when actually they are causing extreme harm to individuals, but also our society.
[54] You mentioned trying to play God, and that's a larger point that you've made, that the Democratic Party has become antagonistic to people of faith in particular.
[55] Meanwhile, you've been embraced by evangelical Christians.
[56] Can you elaborate on specific policies or actions or even attitudes that led you to this conclusion?
[57] There are a number of them.
[58] I dedicate a whole chapter in my book where I detail a few of the many examples that are out there.
[59] The particular targeting of Christians, for example, is very, very real.
[60] We saw that in the limitations during the COVID crisis, for example, where people were not allowed to gather in places of worship, but it was fine for them to go to strip clubs, bars, and big box retailers.
[61] We see that in the FBI normalizing.
[62] Of course, they denied it once it became true, but it didn't necessarily stop it.
[63] They're targeting of what they called radical traditional Catholics.
[64] We see it in their targeting of peaceful pro -life protesters.
[65] We've seen it in the past under President Obama, the targeting and even under President Biden, the names that they put into the IRS as kind of watchwords that should be flagged for further input, which included words that were associated with Christians or Christian churches in America.
[66] I've seen the aversion to mention of God progress in the Democratic Party throughout my time being involved in national politics, but when we look throughout history, we can see how increasingly they, at a national level, refuse to even mention God in it in many ways.
[67] And this goes to whether they're willing to admit it or not, that aversion comes from that deep -seated problem in their mindset, that through their actions, they are actually trying to be the supreme controllers and believing that they are justified in doing so.
[68] now you note the reality that a lot of the people in high positions of power do come from elite backgrounds elite institutions we've been seeing a lot of protests even rioting on elite college campuses a lot of this is associated with quote unquote woke ideology and religion even comes into play there what do you feel that the american people have learned about the handling of these protests by the biden administration and other people in power um it's an interesting posing of that specific question i don't know it is the honest answer.
[69] I don't know what the American people have learned from what we've been seeing play out over these last weeks and even months with regard to what's going on in our college campus.
[70] I think at a minimum, we're seeing an affirmation of the fact that, again, we can point to these so -called woke policies of, well, this is what happens when you defund the police.
[71] This is what happens when you don't value basic things like keeping the peace and ensuring law and order and making it so that whether it's on a college campus or in your community or or walking down the street in New York City, that you can actually feel safe because we know that there are laws in place to keep people off the streets who are seeking to do harm to others.
[72] I think at a basic level, that's probably the biggest takeaway.
[73] The takeaway that people should have is one that is not actually being talked about enough, which is what we're seeing.
[74] And it's connected to the last question that you had about the targeting of Christians in particular, and yet the coddling and even promotion of the radical Islamist ideology.
[75] When you look at the horrific statements that are being chanted on many of these college campuses, they are promoting and propagating the goals and objectives of radical Islamist terrorist groups like Hamas and al -Qaeda and ISIS, the many others that exist in the world who've been waging both kinetic and ideological warfare.
[76] Their goal being, they want for the world, Islamism is by definition political Islam, and their goal is to have the world be ruled under Islamic rule or Sharia law.
[77] We look at what's happening on these campuses and these kids repeating their propaganda, the propaganda of Islamist terrorism.
[78] I hope that people start to pay attention to President Biden's, failure to speak out against this very dangerous situation and to counter that call it out for what it is, first of all, which he has not done and fails to do because he's afraid of being called an Islamophob, but even more importantly on the bigger scheme of things is recognized that this ideological warfare being waged poses a very direct, short, and long -term threat to freedom and civilization.
[79] And we need to counter that with a superior ideology.
[80] And it's one that is rooted in our Constitution.
[81] It is an ideology that's rooted in our God -given rights and freedoms that are enshrined in our nation's founding documents that are the foundation of who we are as a country.
[82] To have our commander -in -chief and president be too afraid to stand up against anti -Semitism, yes, stand up for free speech and law and order and keeping the peace, and to call out this threat of radical Islam, ideology, this should not be such a heavy lift, and his failure to do so should be of concern to all Americans.
[83] Overarching those protests and this larger debate are questions about foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East.
[84] You align yourself more with Trump than Biden on foreign policy.
[85] Can you tell us your worldview, your perspective on arms delivery to Israel and support for Ukraine?
[86] Sure.
[87] I'll just start real quick by summing up my foreign policy view.
[88] I'm a realist.
[89] I see the world for what it is.
[90] Not a pacifist or an isolationist.
[91] I believe we need to build relationships with other countries, find areas of mutual interests, and also be able to work out those areas where we may have adversarial interests in a way that by using all diplomatic means possible, understanding that war and as a soldier and a veteran who served in three different war zones over the past 21 years, understanding the serious cost of war and human lives on our economic interests, and that should be seen as the last resort.
[92] Our foreign policy decisions in our country, and this applies to what's going on in Ukraine, we have to make our decisions based on, first and foremost, what's in the best interest of the American people, our interests, and our national security, and have that be the context through which we make these decisions.
[93] What is going on in Israel right now is not just the latest skirmish in the generation's old battle between two different groups of people in that region.
[94] It is this latest front of this radical Islamist war that has been waged for hundreds of years and is continuing to be waged.
[95] But unfortunately, many leaders in the West especially are putting their heads in the sand and pretending like it's not there.
[96] And that will be to our detriment if that continues.
[97] The situation in Ukraine, my position has been consistent from the very beginning.
[98] We have to see this through a realistic lens and understand that the best interest for the Ukrainian people and the American people would have been if President Biden had helped to immediately broker or support someone else brokering a peace agreement that would have ensured the neutrality of Ukraine with some form of a security agreement where both parties would likely have walked away, not completely happy, both sides feeling as though they had experienced some loss, would have saved countless lives and would have prevented the American people from seeing us being driven farther and farther into debt with hundreds of billions of dollars going to fund a proxy war against Russia that only undermines our national security interest, pushing us closer to the brink of nuclear war.
[99] As we make all of these decisions in different regions of the world, different geopolitical contexts, our leaders must make those decisions within what is in the best interests of the American people and our national security first and foremost.
[100] And unfortunately, too many leaders in Washington, including the Biden -Harris administration, are failing to meet that most necessary first objective.
[101] final question on sort of a high level what are you hoping people take away from your book i wrote this book for love of country leave the democrat party behind really because i i recognize that after i i decided to leave the democratic party i heard from a lot of people across the country who shared the same frustrations i had but feel politically homeless and not quite sure what what they should do people who love a country who are very concerned about the direction that it's headed.
[102] This book is for them to share my experience and to provide, it really ends with a call to action that however we may agree or disagree on different issues, fundamentally we have to come together as Americans who cherish peace and freedom and who recognize the imperative our founders gave to us that when in a situation where we have an increasingly tyrannical government, which we do in this Biden -Harris administration, we the people are the only ones who can stop them.
[103] That's the reality that we face.
[104] And so we've got a very serious election coming up, the most important in my lifetime, in my view, because of what's at stake.
[105] And we have to come together to stop those who are abusing their power and destroying our country, our freedom, and our democracy and figure out how we get our country back on track.
[106] Well, Tulsi, thank you so much for joining us in great luck with this book.
[107] Thank you so much.
[108] Appreciate y 'all.
[109] That was Tulsi Gabbard discussing her new book for Love of Country, Leave the Democratic Party Behind, and this has been an extra edition of Morning Wire.