NEW YORK (Diya TV) — On the surface, Monday’s meeting between Republican President-elect Donald Trump and Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard raised several questions and thoughts of confusion.
On Election Day, Hawaii was Donald Trump’s single worst state — he only got 29 percent of the vote — and it’s categorized as one of the U.S.’s most diverse areas, white people only make up about one-quarter of the population.
But if you knew Gabbard on a more personal level, the meeting would make much more sense.
“She is probably the most Trumpian Democrat in Congress,” a Democrat who worked for Gabbard granted anonymity in order to speak candidly told NBC News. “If Trump is going to do outreach to a Democrat, she is the least shocking person he could do.”
A Gabbard spokeswoman denied rumors last week that the congresswoman is being considered for a job in Trump’s administration.
The 35-year-old congresswoman is also a veteran of the Iraq War is widely considered as a rising start in her party, though she had a rather public divorce with the party earlier this year. She abruptly resigned her post as vice-chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee in February to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for president, at the same time she accused party leadership of rigging the primary process for its eventual nominee, Hillary Clinton.
Sanders embraced Gabbard’s support and employed her as an agent for his campaign.
However, Gabbard’s ideology doesn’t always side with the traditional pillars of her party. She holds more conservative views on issues like gun control and the admittance of Syrian refugees.
She’s been even more animated on her stance on foreign policy, where she might find some common ground with Trump. She’s a hard-line anti-interventionist who rails against neoconservatives while also appearing on Fox News to lambaste the Obama administration for refusing to use the term “Islamic extremism.”
In a statement released after her meeting with the Republican in Trump Tower, Gabbard said that she felt it was important to meet with president-elect “before the drumbeats of war that neocons have been beating drag us into an escalation of the war to overthrow the Syrian government.”
“While the rules of political expediency would say I should have refused to meet with President-elect Trump, I never have and never will play politics with American and Syrian lives,” Gabbard continued. “Where I disagree with President-elect Trump on issues, I will not hesitate to express that disagreement.”
Last week, Gabbard’s signature was left off a letter signed by 169 House Democrats condemning Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s White House appointment, and has been far less vocal than her party counterparts on some of Trump’s other cabinet selections. Democrats have objected to Bannon in part due to his hard-right website, Breitbart, which Bannon has described as a “platform for the alt-right,” a white nationalist movement.
Some Democrats were stunned by Gabbard’s meeting with Trump, especially during a time which they think so many progressives are calling for the total obstruction of the president-elect. Jonathan Tasini, a former Sanders surrogate, said on Twitter that Gabbard’s meeting “normalizes a racist.”
Some say it’s an example of Gabbard taking advantage of an opportunity.
“Honestly, since her endorsement of Bernie Sanders, lots of folks who liked her more or less decided to hold back. Seemed like she was interested in advancing for advancing sake as opposed to working on strengthening the party. As a result, I think she fell out of touch with a lot of institutional people in the party,” said a Democratic donor who co-hosted a fundraiser for Gabbard’s initial election bid. “If those avenues are closed off in terms of advancement in House/DNC, no surprise she’d seek an escape valve to increase her own profile.”
But Tim Vandeveer, a Sanders supporter elected this year as chairman of the Hawaii Democratic Party, defended Gabbard’s decision.
“Given the reality that we’re facing now with President-elect Trump, and an administration that we’ve already seen is going to lean heavily on neoconservatives who are going to rattle the sabers of war, I think it’s a good idea for Democrats to engage and stand up for our values,” said Vandeveer. “In general, normalizing Donald Trump is a huge concern to Democrats. However, it doesn’t change the reality that this is the man and this is the administration that we are going to have to stand in opposition against and at times possibly work with to advance our own agenda.”
Information from NBC News contributed to this report.
