Former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard defended Kyle Rittenhouse and slammed the political left during an interview on Thursday evening over their reaction to the judge in the case.
“We remember very clearly that immediately after this incident, this tragedy occurred with Kyle Rittenhouse, the mainstream media, pro-Antifa politicians were very quick to say this kid is a white supremacist terrorist,” Gabbard told Lawrence Jones III on “Fox News Primetime.”
“The government absolutely failed to fulfill this most basic responsibility of keeping their community safe,” Gabbard continued. “Kyle Rittenhouse shouldn’t have gone and done what he did. But … you know, he’s a foolish kid who, like others in the community felt like they had no other choice but to step up and to try to do their part to keep people safe.”
Gabbard later called out the political left for attacking the judge in the case after the judge’s cell phone went off during the trial and his ringtone was “God Bless The USA.”
Gabbard said that the political left often attacks anyone who is not on their team with smears of being a “racist,” “white supremacist,” or “terrorist.”
“And they levy out these allegations really without care again, for the evidence, facts or the consequences,” Gabbard said. “And we’re seeing the same thing happening here with the judge in this trial because of his ringtone being a patriotic song, ‘God Bless The USA,’ oh obviously, they’re saying hey, he’s he’s biased towards Kyle Rittenhouse.”
“This is the craziness of what we’re seeing play out here, which really for me, you know, it shows that they hate America, that they have such disdain for those who love America that this is the allegation that they throw out, and especially offensive as we sit here on Veterans Day,” she concluded. “This disdain extends to those who’ve wear or worn the uniform, who were willing to sacrifice their lives to serve our country. It’s extremely offensive and they should be ashamed of themselves.”
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TRANSCRIPT:
LAWRENCE JONES III, FOX NEWS HOST: Here to respond, Tulsi Gabbard, former Hawaii Congresswoman, and a former presidential candidate. Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining us tonight.
TULSI GABBARD, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.
JONES III: You know, I’ve been following you on Twitter and some of your public comments. Part of the most, the most concerning thing that I’ve been seeing from the media is that they don’t remember that time, apparently, or they have amnesia. People didn’t feel safe. And I’m not advocating for vigilante justice. But when government doesn’t do its job, people step up to protect themselves.
GABBARD: That’s exactly right. And I don’t, I would not assume that they have amnesia, because when you think back to that time, we remember very clearly that immediately after this incident, this tragedy occurred with Kyle Rittenhouse, the mainstream media, pro-Antifa politicians were very quick to say this kid is a white supremacist terrorist. And so even at that time, in the midst of all of that chaos, there was no interest in saying, ‘hey, you know what, this is a tragedy, the crisis that the city is facing is is a tragedy, let’s actually wait and follow the evidence and let this work itself through our judicial system.’ The government absolutely failed to fulfill this most basic responsibility of keeping their community safe. Kyle Rittenhouse shouldn’t have gone and done what he did. But as you said, you know, he’s a foolish kid who, like others in the community felt like they had no other choice but to step up and to try to do their part to keep people safe.
JONES III: You know, congresswoman, I have a problem with the inconsistency that I see from the left, and people that claim to be civil libertarians that wanted to fight for the rights of the people. If you agree that the state should have the knee on someone’s neck and kill him, then how could you support the state intentionally targeted a young man that it shows in the video that is self defense? It shows on the witness stand, the own prosecution’s witness admitted that he aimed his gun at him first.
GABBARD: This is, this is the problem here, right? Is that there is no care or interest in evidence, or the facts, or justice. Really, it’s about politics. It’s about hey, are you one of us or are you one of them? Are you on our team? Or are you the quote unquote, ‘enemy’? And as we’ve seen in this example, and others, if you’re not on our team, then you are a racist, you’re a white supremacist, you’re a terrorist. And they levy out these allegations really without care again, for the evidence, facts or the consequences. And we’re seeing the same thing happening here with the judge in this trial because of his ringtone being a patriotic song, ‘God Bless The USA,’ oh obviously, they’re saying hey, he’s he’s biased towards Kyle Rittenhouse. So, what conclusions are we to draw from that? That if you love America, then you are a white supremacist? This is the craziness of what we’re seeing play out here, which really for me, you know, it shows that they hate America, that they have such disdain for those who love America that this is the allegation that they throw out, and especially offensive as we sit here on Veterans Day. This disdain extends to those who’ve wear or worn the uniform, who were willing to sacrifice their lives to serve our country. It’s extremely offensive and they should be ashamed of themselves.
JONES III: They should but they’re not because they want to take down political opponents. That is exactly what this is about and it’s sad. Congresswoman, thank you for your honesty here tonight on the program. Hope you come back.