Former President Donald Trump has made an interesting addition to his debate prep team ahead of his match-up against Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 10. In an unexpected turn in the 2024 presidential race, he has teamed up with former Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to prepare for his debates, an alliance that highlights a notable strategic shift in Trump’s campaign approach.
Gabbard, who famously confronted Harris during the 2019 Democratic presidential primary debates, is known for her critical view of the Democrat Party, from which she distanced herself following her 2020 presidential run. Her collaboration with Trump, marked by her appearance at his Mar-a-Lago residence, represents a notable partnership.
According to The New York Times, Trump’s choice to bring Gabbard onto his team was significantly influenced by her standout performance in the CNN debate, where she notably criticized Kamala Harris’s record as a prosecutor in California. In the 2019 Democratic debate, Gabbard had accused Harris of exacerbating the systemic failures of the criminal justice system—a point she is expected to emphasize again as she assists Trump in his preparations. Trump aims to leverage the impact of Gabbard’s critique as he prepares to challenge the vice president.
“Senator Harris says she’s proud of her record as a prosecutor and that she’ll be a prosecutor president, but I’m deeply concerned about this record,” Gabbard said during the debate. “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.”
“She blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so,” she continued. “She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California and she fought to keep cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way.”
In an email, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed Gabbard’s participation to the Times. Leavitt said [Trump] has “proven to be one of the best debaters in political history 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.”
WATCH:
5 years ago today, Tulsi Gabbard ended Kamala Harris 2020 presidential campaign after calling her out in a debate.
One would think that Tulsi being a young, veteran, woman, POC, and having 8 years of experience in Congress that she would’ve been the future face of the Democratic… pic.twitter.com/yvZeGjMXZm
— End Tribalism in Politics (@EndTribalism) July 31, 2024
Trump’s decision to include Gabbard in his debate preparation not only revitalizes his campaign narrative but also adds an element of unpredictability to the upcoming debates. On Thursday, the Harris campaign confirmed its participation in three debates this election cycle: two presidential debates and one vice presidential debate.
Meanwhile, a former prisoner, who was wrongfully convicted during Harris’s time as a California prosecutor, is speaking out against what he describes as her troubling pattern of incarcerating innocent men while advancing her political career. Jamal Trulove was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the 2007 shooting death of his friend Seu Kuka. Harris, then the District Attorney for San Francisco, was overseeing the prosecution at the time.
Six years later, Trulove was exonerated on appeal and awarded a $13.1 million settlement from the state of California. Despite this, Harris continued to promote her tough-on-crime stance while campaigning for state Attorney General in the 2010 midterm elections. In a recent interview, Trulove claimed that Harris even “laughed” at his suffering during that time.
“We locked eyes this one time, and she laughed,” he said, the Daily Mail reported. “She literally just, like, kind of busted out laughing. Almost as if she was pointing like, ‘ha-ha’, she didn’t point, but that’s how it felt.” The young man added that he will be voting for former President Donald Trump in November. “If you’re wondering if I’ll be voting for Kamala ‘Laugh-and-Lie’ Harris, f*** no.”
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.