Tulsi Gabbard announces she is joining the Republican Party at a Trump rally

Former Rep. and former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard formally announced she is joining the Republican Party at a rally alongside former Donald Trump in Greensboro, North Carolina, one of the key states ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

"And it is because of my love for our country, and specifically because of the leadership that President Trump has brought to transform the Republican Party and bring it back to the party of the people and the party of peace, that I'm proud to stand here with you today, President Trump, and announce that I'm joining the Republican Party," Gabbard said.

"I'm joining the party of the people, the party of equality, the party that was founded to fight against and end slavery in this country," she stated.

Gabbard, who until hours ago was an independent, represented Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021 as a Democrat.

In 2020, Gabbard announced her pre-candidacy for the Democratic primary, but the former representative came in seventh place, achieving just 273,940 votes.

Two years later, in 2022, Gabbard, who was always seen as a moderate or conservative Democrat, announced on her X account her departure from the Democratic Party citing several reasons, among them her complaint that the party had become the political grouping "of the elites."

Pointedly, Gabbard accused Democrats in a video of dividing the country "by racializing every issue, stoking anti-white racism" and "actively working to undermine our God-given freedoms enshrined in our Constitution."

"The Democrats of today are hostile to people of faith and spirituality," she said. "They demonize the police and protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans. The Democrats of today believe in open borders and weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents. Above all else, the Democrats of today are dragging us ever closer to nuclear war."