Tulsi Gabbard Praised on Fox News as Reagan-Like For Ditching the Dems, While Critics Say ‘Pro-Putin’ Pundit Belongs in the GOP

Former Hawaii congresswoman and candidate for president, Tulsi Gabbard, officially left the Democratic Party on Tuesday in an announcement that surprised few political observers, but still sparked both strong condemnations and high praise for the now divisive figure.

While many on the right openly welcomed Gabbard into the GOP, the left, center, and particularly anti-Trump conservatives lit into the one-time progressive for her views on foreign policy.

Fox News discussed Gabbard’s announcement, which she made on Twitter, during Tuesday’s Outnumbered. Co-host Emily Compagno called Gabbard’s remarks “a fiery takedown ahead of the midterms and she’s urging independent-minded Democrats to do the same.”

Compagno then rolled a clip from Gabbard’s announcement in which she said, “I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party. That’s under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers who are driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racialism on every issue, and stoking anti-white racism, who actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms.”

Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo responded to Gabbard, saying, “Well, you know, when I heard that, I thought of Ronald Reagan, Elon Musk from time gone by and now the party didn’t leave them, or rather, they didn’t leave the party. The party left them. It changed, it warped.”

Arroyo went on to claim the national Democratic Party has become radical and concluded, “This is a woman who supported, by the way, Bernie Sanders. So she’s hardly some right winger who was embedded in the Democratic Party. When Tulsi Gabbard leaves, it’s a it’s a big sign for the Democratic Party. We’ll see if they heed it or not.”

Other Fox News contributors, like Leo Terrell, celebrated Gabbard’s announcement, writing, “Welcome to the Team!” Fox’s top-rated host Tucker Carlson tweeted out he would have her on Tuesday night’s show to discuss the announcement.

Critics, however, where quick to point out Gabbard’s closeness with the GOP and Carlson in recent years.

“Tulsi Gabbard has made at least 100 appearances on Fox News evening programming (7 pm through 11 pm), including a whopping 46 appearances on Tucker Carlson’s show – including guest hosting it,” noted Media Matters news director John Whitehouse.

Former Fox News political contributor and conservative Trump critic, Bill Kristol called out Gabbard’s recent foreign policy positions, “Re Tulsi Gabbard: Makes sense. If you’re pro-Assad and pro-Putin, you join today’s Republican Party.”

Outgoing GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger offered a similar take, writing, “Oh trust me the Trumpers will welcome you with open arms. As long as you’re pro-Putin.”

A March clip of Russian state TV hosts replaying a segment of Gabbard and Carlson discussing the war in Ukraine went viral again on Tuesday after Gabbard’s announcement. In the clip shared by Russian media analyst Julia Davis, state TV host Vladimir Soloviev refers to Gabbard as “Our girlfriend Tulsi.”

NPR’s David Folkenflik responded to Gabbard’s announcement with a media analysis, wondering what this now means for her credibility as a pundit. “From a strictly media marketplace standpoint this is a dilemma,” Folkenflik wrote, adding:

She gets to give Fox “Dem pres candidate quits party…” adrenaline kick just before midterms… but isn’t she worth more over time as “Even Democrat Gabbard condemns Biden for…” ?

The left and right also tussled on the culture war element of Gabbard’s remarks. Law professor
Barb McQuade called Gabbard’s message “gaslighting,” while the right-wing Columbia Bugle ripped into Republicans for letting Gabbard to their messaging for them.

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