Tulsi Gabbard isn’t on former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential short list, but she hasn’t rejected the possibility of joining him on the campaign trail.
The ex-Democrat and former Hawaii representative is well known for her scathing criticism of progressives, hinting in interviews on Thursday that she is open to joining the Republican Party.
“I never say never,” Gabbard told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel when asked if she would join the Republican Party, particularly as Trump’s running mate.
During another interview on Thursday, Gabbard left the door open to serving in the Trump administration should the former president win a second term.
“I think there are a few different ways I could serve — as secretary of state, secretary of defense — there are a few different ways I believe I could best serve our country,” Gabbard told radio host Joe Giganti on The Regular Joe Show. “Ultimately, we’ve got to save our country and win this election. I look forward to finding the best way that I can do that.”
Gabbard’s Wisconsin itinerary included a Friday event hosted by the Republican Party of Dane County, as well as meetings in Brookfield with the Republican Parties of Milwaukee County and Waukesha County.
Gabbard was a member of the Democratic Party for years, rising to the rank of vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee from 2013-2016.
After running as a Democrat in the 2020 presidential election, Gabbard’s disillusionment with her party pushed her to become an independent in 2022.
In an announcement explaining her departure, Gabbard said, “I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms, are hostile to people of faith & spirituality, demonize the police & protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans, believe in open borders, weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents, and above all, dragging us ever closer to nuclear war.”
The independent is known for her foreign policy views and has come down harshly on some Republicans as “neocon war hawks.”
Since leaving her former party, Gabbard has often campaigned for GOP candidates while defending Trump in the middle of his numerous legal battles.
After Trump’s unprecedented hush money conviction last month, the possible vice president contender posted her support for the former president on X.
“Biden: GUILTY of abuse of power,” she said. “Biden: GUILTY of turning our country into a banana republic where those in power use the law to go after their political opponents.”
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Wisconsin is expected to be one of the closest races this November. In 2016, Trump won the swing state by a little more than 27,000 votes. In 2020, President Joe Biden flipped the state back to blue by 20,000 votes.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Gabbard for comment.
