With the first presidential debate only three weeks away, former President Donald Trump has enlisted the help of a former Democratic Congresswoman to aid his preparation against Vice President Kamala Harris, the New York Times reported Friday.
Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this week to participate in a strategy session and offer her experience in debating Harris.
Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2020, leaving her without a political home, and eventually declared herself an Independent.
Her skepticism about the war in Ukraine, COVID-19 lockdowns, and contempt for “woke ideology” has earned her favor among many conservatives.
“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,” she posted.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told the Times via email that Trump has proven his mettle as an expert debater, "as evidenced by his knockout blow to Joe Biden.
“He does not need traditional debate prep but will continue to meet with respected policy advisers and effective communicators like Tulsi Gabbard, who successfully dominated Kamala Harris on the debate stage in 2020,” she said.
Some media analysts credit Gabbard for delivering a crushing rebuttal to Harris during the 2019 Democratic primary debates when she called out the former Attorney General of California on her many inconsistencies.
“There are too many examples to cite, but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana,” Gabbard said to Harris during the viral debate clip.
Gabbard was once considered to be a candidate for Trump’s running mate before he selected Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. At the time she said, “If asked to serve in that way, I would be honored to do so.”
Trump and Harris will meet for the first debate on September 10 on ABC.