- Gabbard was named last week to Donald Trump’s transition team.
Tulsi Gabbard is helping prepare Donald Trump to take on Kamala Harris next week.
The former Democratic congresswoman turned independent from Hawaii warned that Trump (or others) should not underestimate Harris on the debate stage.
In just 10 days, Trump and Harris will be on the same stage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for their first debate.
Gabbard has experience facing Harris in two separate debates. They were on the same stage in the second debate of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in Detroit, Michigan, in July 2019, and in the fourth debate of that cycle in Westerville, Ohio, on October 15, 2019.
“I think Kamala Harris has a lot of experience. She should not be underestimated,” Gabbard told CNN anchor Dana Bash during an interview on State of the Union on Sunday morning.
Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard faced off against Kamala Harris in two separate debates in the 2020 Democratic primary cycle and warns Donald Trump not to “underestimate” the vice president
He added: “If I can help President Trump in any way, it’s simply by sharing the experience I had with her on the debate stage in 2020.”
Trump’s former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, 86, also issued a warning to Trump ahead of their debate not to come down too “strong” on Harris.
“The only danger is that Trump is big, strong and a man,” Ross said during an interview on The Cats Roundtable on Sunday morning.
She added: “He has to be careful not to appear to be putting too much pressure on a woman. People don’t like to see a woman being put too much pressure on.”
Gabbard ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020, but realigned her party affiliation to independent in 2022.
Bash noted the irony that Gabbard once ran for the White House as a Democrat and is now helping a Republican candidate prepare for a debate against his former primary rival.
The former Hawaii lawmaker said Trump’s biggest advantage would be to focus on how Harris has already tried to distance herself from her record as vice president, including her failure as Biden’s “border czar.”
On August 26 of this year, Gabbard officially endorsed Trump’s bid for a second non-consecutive term in the White House.
A day later, Trump named her honorary co-chair of his presidential transition team.
Of the four debates, Gabbard appeared onstage with Harris for two during the Democratic presidential primary race in the 2020 election cycle.
That means Gabbard will join Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance in leading the former president’s team preparing for his transition to the White House if he wins in November.
Gabbard is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve and served as a U.S. Representative from Hawaii for four terms, from 2013 to 2021, as a Democrat.
She told Bash that she has not discussed with Trump her role beyond the transition team, including whether or not she could serve in his administration if he wins.
