Appearing Monday with Trump in Detroit, Gabbard, a National Guard veteran who served two tours of duty in the Middle East, said that the GOP nominee “understands the grave responsibility that a president and commander in chief bears for every single one of our lives.”
The pair appeared at the National Guard Association of the United States on the third anniversary of the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Karzai International Airport, which killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 100 Afghans. Gabbard accompanied Trump earlier Monday to Arlington National Cemetery, when the former president laid wreaths in honor of three of the slain service members — Sgt. Nicole Gee, Staff Sgt. Darin Hoover and Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss.
On Monday, Gabbard praised Trump for “having the courage to meet with adversaries, dictators, allies and partners alike in the pursuit of peace, seeing war as a last resort." She condemned the Democratic White House for the U.S. now "facing multiple wars on multiple fronts in regions around the world and closer to the brink of nuclear war than we ever have been before.”
Gabbard has long signaled some level of support for Trump, even while she sat in the U.S. House as a Democrat. In 2019, she was the only lawmaker to vote " present" when the House of Representatives impeached Trump for his dealings with Ukraine.
Gabbard's endorsement of the rival nominee to her former party represents a polar swing from her position as a Democrat representing Hawaii in the U.S. House, although Gabbard was known during her four terms for taking positions at odds with her own party's establishment.
