Gabbard: Shutting Out the Last Woman in the Presidential Race

March 11th, 2020 - by Joe Concha / The Hill

Gabbard slams ‘the DNC and their corporate media partners’ for shutting her out of next debate

Joe Concha / The Hill

WASHINGTON (March 10, 2020) — Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) slammed the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and “their corporate media partners” on Tuesday for not allowing her to participate in next week’s debate that is slated to feature former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

The pushback from Gabbard comes after the DNC announced new qualifying standards on Friday for the March 15 Arizona debate that will be broadcasted on CNN and Univision.

The new standards leave the Hawaii congresswoman off the stage.

“You hear a lot of talk. We just celebrated International Women’s Day and the progress that women are making around the world,” Gabbard told anchor Shannon Bream on “Fox News at Night.” 

“But when it comes to actually making sure that — in this presidential primary — that the only woman candidate left in the race, the only woman of color, and the first female combat veteran ever to run for the presidency has a voice, the DNC and their corporate media partners say, ‘No thanks. Actually, that’s not what we want the American people hear,'” she added. 

Gabbard, 38, also argued that the DNC’s decision to change qualifying rules is a “greater disservice” to voters who will “not have the opportunity to make that best-informed decision about who our next commander in chief should be.”

“We’re not seeing these other candidates bringing to the forefront the issues that I am about the need to bring, this sea change in our foreign policy, to stop waging these wasteful regime change wars toppling dictators in other countries, the new Cold War nuclear arms race, all of which are not making us any safer,” Gabbard said.

“And instead, redirect our taxpayer dollars towards really serving the very urgent pressing needs that the American people here at home all across the country are very concerned about. Things like the coronavirus, for example,” she added.

Gabbard earned two delegates as a result of her second-place finish in the US territory American Samoa, which, under previous DNC rules, qualified her for the March 15 debate. 

“State of the Union” host Jake Tapper and Univision anchor Jorge Ramos will serve as moderators for the debate in Phoenix. 

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