Tulsi Gabbard once ran for president as a Democrat, a move that put her on the national map politically.
Now she has left her old party, and there are rumors that the independent-minded Gabbard may join the most popular independent presidential candidate currently in the race, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Now Gabbard says the offer was extended, but she turned it down.
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Tulsi Gabbard: ‘I respectfully declined’
According to the New York Post, “Gabbard, 42, who left the Democratic Party in 2022 not long after her unsuccessful presidential bid, did not explain why she decided not to seize the opportunity.”
“I met Kennedy several times and we became good friends,” Gabbard told ABC News.
The story continues:
“He asked me if I would be his running mate. After careful consideration, I respectfully declined.
His name had been floating around the Veepstakes rumor mill for months as a potential contender, along with former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and others.
Ultimately, the Kennedy scion left with a largely unknown individual: Silicon Valley lawyer Nicole Shanahan, 38, who had been a major supporter of his presidential bid.
Shanahan is the ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, the tenth richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. You financed a controversial Super Bowl ad for Kennedy earlier this year.
Like Gabbard, Kennedy first ran for president as a Democrat this cycle, but it quickly became clear that Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee weren’t having it. They would not allow Kennedy or fellow Democratic White House candidate Marianne Williamson to debate Biden or even allow the traditional selection process.
Even though Kennedy was getting double digits in some polls.
Biden would be the Democratic nominee for 2024. Period.
So Kennedy changed his party affiliation to Independent in October.
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Kennedy’s campaign acknowledges that the talks happened
According to a source close to Team Kennedy, it was confirmed that “there were definitely meetings, but it didn’t work out.”
“We talked to a bunch of people,” the source continued. “Tulsi is a rock star, no matter what.”
Yes. And the former House member who now rails against “warmongers” in both parties isn’t going away anytime soon.
