In this episode of The Dennis Prager Show, guest host Julie Hartman interviews former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard promotes her book For Love of Country and warns that the Democratic elite are endangering American democracy and pushing the nation toward war. She critiques the handling of President Biden’s classified‑document case, suggesting his mental fitness is in question, and argues that the party’s policies—not its personnel—are the real problem. Gabbard outlines how she would overhaul Democratic policies on border security, foreign affairs, and the economy to better serve the American people. Regarding the Israel‑Gaza war, she frames Hamas as an Islamist terrorist organization whose defeat is a prerequisite for any lasting peace, dismissing a blanket ceasefire as naïve. She also condemns the U.S. and UN approach to a ceasefire resolution, emphasizing the need for a clear strategy against Hamas. The conversation shifts to domestic crises, where Gabbard describes the ongoing fallout from the Maui wildfires—over 1,000 people still homeless—and criticizes federal and state government incompetence. She draws a parallel between the neglect of Maui residents and other U.S. disasters, contrasting it with the large aid packages sent abroad, such as to Ukraine. Throughout, Gabbard calls for prioritizing American infrastructure and public safety, urging listeners to recognize their responsibility to protect freedom and democracy in the 2024 election.
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Julie Hartman here sitting in for Dennis Prager. We're talking right now with Tulsi Gabbard, who was the former U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District. I'm so sorry to have cut you off, Ms. Gabbard, but welcome to our other affiliates who just joined the show.
Welcome, welcome to everybody who just joined us.
Yes, you were saying about your book—
to say that, that, that my— there are many Americans who have had a similar experience that I have had, whose eyes are opening very wide to how today's Democrat elite are threatening the very foundational principles of our country, democracy and freedom, and are pushing us closer and closer to the brink of war. There's a clear choice in this election. I'm hoping both through my book, For Love of Country, as well as through speaking and media, every platform available to help continue to sound that alarm so that every American recognizes their responsibility to step up and take a stand for freedom and protect our democracy in this election.
Americans saw last week that Special Counsel Robert Herr released a report that the DOJ is not going to prosecute President Biden for his mishandling of classified documents because Basically, he's mentally unfit to stand trial. Now, of course, if he's mentally unfit to stand trial, certainly the logical conclusion is that he's mentally unfit to be president of the United States. If you were running the Democratic Party and you wanted to ensure a victory in 2024, what would you do?
Well, if I were running the Democratic Party, I would completely overhaul the policies that the Democratic Party is pushing. So that they're actually pushing policies that, that serve the best interest of the American people, our security at the borders as well as our national security as it relates to foreign policy, uh, improve our economy and the well-being and lives of, of the American people here at home. Uh, if, if the Democrats were serious about actually serving the people, they might have a better shot at winning this election. Unfortunately, they're not interested. They're only interested in power. And, and that's where I, I think as more and more people see that for what it is, see them for who they are, they will reject them and their, and their leadership.
Do you think President Biden will be the nominee?
I don't know, to be honest. I don't know. I believe wholeheartedly what he says, which is that he intends to be the nominee. Whether or not someone is able to convince him to step aside, uh, or there are other plans in motion in the back rooms of the Democratic Party. I don't have any insight into that, but regardless, that's not really the question. I don't think that's the question that we should be asking, because whether it's Joe Biden or Kamala Harris or any of the other people that they may put into that position, if it's not Joe Biden, Their policies are the same, and their policies are destroying our country and undermining our freedom. So nothing else will change other than the name, and we need to be very clear-eyed about how dangerous that is.
Well said. You mentioned foreign policy. If you were president on October 7th, what would you have done differently from that point forward as far as our involvement or support to Israel in their war against Gaza?
I've been very outspoken about this. October 7th should have been an extreme wake-up call to the, to the leaders in the United States and leaders around the world about how Islamist terrorists continue to pose the greatest short- and long-term threat to our peace, our ability to live in peace and live free. Too many people, unfortunately, are seeing that attack on October 7th as just the latest assault in the long history of conflict between the Palestinian people and Israel. It's much greater than that. And we've seen how the aftershocks of that horrific attack on October 7th around the world, Hamas's call for jihad, Hamas's continued commitment to what has always been not only their goal, but the goal of all of these other Islamist terrorist groups around the world— Al Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram. You can go down the long list of names. Their goal is to not only destroy Israel and exterminate all Jewish people, but it is to rid the world of quote-unquote nonbelievers or infidels and establish Islamic caliphates. So seeing how easily people have been influenced, as we saw many mobs growing and really violent protests around the world supporting Hamas and standing against freedom and against peace, continue— should continue to to alarm the world about what we're really dealing with, a threat that needs to be defeated both militarily and ideologically. And that's where I think that the Biden-Harris administration and many other world leaders continue to miss the mark.
We know that the United States is going to sponsor, or at least not oppose, a resolution in the U.N. Security Council to support a ceasefire in Gaza. What do you make of that decision?
I think that there needs to be a strategy. There needs to be a clear strategy. Just obviously, I think everyone who loves peace and freedom would like to see this war come to an end. But we have to be realists about the threat that continues to exist for the people of Israel. So long as Hamas is in power, the people of Israel will, will not be secure and can't live in peace. You cannot negotiate a peace with a terrorist group whose, whose founding documents state that their goal is to exterminate all Jewish people and eliminate the state of Israel. There is no way to negotiate peace with a terrorist group that celebrates martyrdom and death. So we have to deal with the threat at hand. I think there are strategic arguments and conversations that should be had about how best to do that, how best to minimize civilian casualties. But just saying, well, we just need a blanket ceasefire, I think that is too simplistic of an approach to deal with really the great task, which is to achieve peace. But you cannot achieve peace without the defeat of Hamas. Mm-hmm.
There was a story that emerged about a year ago, and of course, it was the terrible wildfires that swept across the island of Maui and the complete incompetence as far as preventing such a catastrophe from happening. And of course, remedying it once it did happen. What is going on in Maui now?
I appreciate you asking, Julia. This is something that continues to be a heartbreaking situation, even though it has been over a year since those wildfires occurred. I'll tell you, there's a lot, there's a lot of things that, that we could talk about here. I'll mention two that I think are really important, uh, one of which is there are still over 1,000 people who are homeless because of those wildfires. The level of incompetence and failure at every level of government in the wake of those fires has been egregious, has been absolutely egregious, and something that needs, needs to not only be fixed but needs to be a lesson learned for, for states across the country so that they can prevent such loss of life. But, but as, as we see in the national news conversations about sending more and more money to Ukraine and writing these big checks to other countries, um, I, I just, I just think back to my going to the community in, in West Maui, in Lahaina, 3 days after the fire happened last August, and talking to folks on the ground there who weren't having their voices heard at that time because they wouldn't allow any media into the area to go and see them. They were essentially cut off from communication other than using radios. But the thing that I heard from them when I was there very frequently was, gosh, if we changed our name to Kiev or Ukraine, maybe then our government would pay attention to us and provide us with the support that we need. And it was, it was, these weren't flippant comments. These weren't said with a smile or a laugh. These are very serious comments. Coming from our fellow Americans who felt completely left behind and ignored in what was the worst wildfire our country has seen in over 100 years. So they're not alone. The people of East Palestine, Ohio, are still struggling. There are people across this country who are struggling with basic infrastructure needs that our leaders need to pay attention to and need to address. First and foremost, putting the well-being of the American people first.
Well, one thing that does give me hope during these troubling times is that you are in our national discourse and you are just such a fantastic leader, as I said, of common sense, so needed during this time. Thank you so much, Ms. Gabbard, for coming on to the show. And just as a reminder to everyone, Ms. Gabbard's book is For Love of Country: Why I Left the Democratic Party. You can order it right now on Amazon, which I am going to do. In just a few seconds during the commercial break. Great to talk with you.
Thanks for having me on this show. And thanks to everybody for listening. Aloha. For the full episode of The Dennis Prager Show, go to pragertopia.com, sign up and become a full member.
