Trump meets with former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard as debate with Harris looms

Former President Donald Trump has recently met with Tulsi Gabbard as he prepares for upcoming debates against Kamala Harris, America's border czar and the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.

When Trump and Gabbard have met recently is unclear, but the New York Times, which first reported their meeting, indicated that Gabbard joined Trump at Mar-a-Lago for a "practice session" about some of his debate strategies.

Harris appeared stunned by the attack from the left and was never really able to get her campaign back on track. She dropped out before the Iowa caucuses.

Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed the recent partnership between Trump and Gabbard but denied that the former president is engaging in active debate preparation.

"President Trump has proven to be one of the best debaters in political history as evidenced by his knockout blow to Joe Biden," Leavitt said in a statement. "He does not need traditional debate prep but will continue to meet with respected policy advisors and effective communicators like Tulsi Gabbard, who successfully dominated Kamala Harris on the debate stage."

Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, indeed "dominated" Harris, then a senator from California, during a 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate, effectively bringing Harris' fledgling campaign to an early end.

"Now, 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 as Harris' expression soured.

"There are too many examples to cite," Gabbard continued, "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 kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California, and she fought to keep the system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way."

Harris appeared stunned by the attack from the left and was never really able to get her campaign back on track. She dropped out of the 2020 primary race before the Iowa caucuses.

In 2024, Harris similarly received no primary votes for president but is the Democratic nominee nonetheless after Joe Biden abandoned a bid for a second term in office last month.

Trump and Harris are scheduled to face off in at least one debate in the coming weeks, but the Harris team has seemingly wavered about committing to others.

According to The Hill, both Trump and Harris have agreed to debate on September 10 on ABC News. The outlet further claimed Trump has committed to debates on September 4 on Fox News and September 25 on NBC News, while a statement from the Harris campaign indicated that Harris has not agreed to those other September debates.

"Assuming Donald Trump actually shows up on September 10 to debate Vice President Harris, then Governor Walz will see JD Vance on October 1 and the American people will have another opportunity to see the vice president and Donald Trump on the debate stage in October," said a statement from campaign communications director Michael Tyler.

Gabbard officially left the Democratic Party almost two years ago and has since encouraged Americans to support Trump, a Republican. She was even briefly floated as a possible vice presidential candidate for Trump earlier this year.

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