Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard slammed the recent indictment of former President Donald Trump, claiming the move is “not something that should happen” in the U.S., while warning it may be the “final nail in the coffin of our democracy.”
Speaking this weekend at the 14th annual Western Conservative Summit in Denver, Colorado — one of the largest annual gatherings of conservatives outside Washington, DC — former congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard began by noting her love for the United States, her military service, and her later role in congress.
“I love our country, and I’ve proudly sworn in oath twice: first, as a soldier enlisting because of the terrorist attacks on 911, and again, as a member of Congress where I served for eight years, that oath swearing to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” she said.
Gabbard, who formally announced her departure from the Democrat Party in October, then warned of current threats to freedom and the Constitution, which are “not coming from some far-off land or some foreign country.”
“Those threats are coming from within,” she declared. “And they’re coming, unfortunately, from people who do not share our love for this country, who don’t share our appreciation for God-given rights and freedoms that are enshrined in the Constitution.”
“And so, they are willing to sacrifice all of it in their ambitious and selfish hunger for power,” she added.
According to Gabbard, that is the reason we are now witnessing an “unprecedented moment,” where a sitting U.S. president, facing an upcoming election, abused his power “to direct the federal government and justice system to be used against his major political opponent in the midst of a presidential campaign, charging him with multiple crimes.”
“This is not something that should happen in the United States of America,” she proclaimed, warning, “it could be the final nail in the coffin of our democracy.”
She also accused the president of boasting about how he is a “champion for democracy,” both in the U.S. and internationally, while his actions “tell a very different story.”
“Obviously, his administration’s indictment of his primary political opponent, President Trump, and their ongoing efforts to target political opponents and limit free speech — these actions remind us of the things that we see more of in authoritarian regimes in other parts of the world where it’s almost commonplace to wield the power of the state to silence or eliminate opposition,” she said.
Though “the heart of a functioning justice system” is that the law must be enforced “equally across the board,” Gabbard charged that “that’s not what we’re seeing here.”
Turning to President Biden’s supporters and the “TV-talking heads and pundits who are celebrating this indictment,” she asked, “where were you when [disgraced former FBI director] James Comey decided not to charge Hillary Clinton with any crimes, even after speaking at great length about her many offenses mishandling high-level national security documents?”
“Where were your calls for accountability when President Biden himself was found to be holding classified documents in his own home and in other locations?” she further questioned. “Where were you when James Clapper and John Brennan lied under oath to the United States Congress?”
Gabbard also asked about the “accountability for the 51 senior former intelligence officials who intentionally made this baseless public statement at the behest of the Biden campaign, with the specific intent of withholding information, the content of Hunter Biden‘s laptop from voters labeling it as Russian disinformation.”
“How many times have we heard that before? Because they did not want us to be influenced by what was there, and potentially have that impact the way that we voted in that election,” she said.
In addition, she pointed to the lack of accountability for FBI members “who knowingly spread the Russia collusion hoax to try to undermine President Trump.”
Calling it “heartbreaking” knowing “ these are just a few of the examples,” Gabbard insisted they are “evidence of the arrogance and blatant disregard for the American people, the rule of law, and our democracy that those in power have.”
“This is why these things that I’m talking about, this should not just be of concern to Republicans,” she concluded, adding it “should be of concern to every American who values the rule of law [and] who understands that it’s essential for our democracy.”
Gabbard previously criticized Trump’s “politicized indictment,” calling it the “latest example of the Dem establishment putting their own personal and partisan political interest ahead of the interests of the American people and our country.”
“It is a despicable, extremely dangerous turning point for our country,” she added
Last month, she slammed her former political party, describing it as a group with ill intentions coalescing around a label while tearing the country apart.
Flashback: Tulsi Gabbard: I’m Leaving the Democratic Party… “I Invite You to Join Me”
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.