On Monday, former Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat, called on Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) to resign from Congress after she had refused to vote for the impeachment of President Trump.
Abercrombie snapped, “I feel very strongly the 2nd District of Hawaii must be fully represented,” according to the Honolulu Civil Beat. That would force a special election to fill Gabbard’s seat, as The Hill noted.
The Civil Beat added, Abercrombie emphasized that Gabbard has already said she will not be seeking reelection for her congressional seat, which represents rural Oahu and the neighbor islands. He also noted her voting record, including missing votes on several appropriations bills following the impeachment.”
Ilihia Gionson, Gabbard’s Hawaii Island communications director, responded to Abercrombie, asserting, “Hawaii is Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard’s home and her heart. Her pursuit of the highest office in the land has not compromised her and her team’s commitment to serving the people of Hawaii in her fourth term in Congress.”
Gabbard’s office additionally cited her “major legislative wins” for her home district, such as “opportunities for defense contracting for Native Hawaiian companies” and “better reporting on Red Hill aquifer protection.”
Abercrombie has not been alone among Hawaii Democrats who have slammed Gabbard for her “present” vote when the House voted to impeach Trump; Sen. Mazie Hirono blathered to The Hill, “She apparently can’t decide whether the president has shaken down the president of another country for his own political purposes. She hasn’t been able to decide whether that’s okay or not.”
After the House vote, as the Star Advertiser reported, Gabbard explained:
After doing my due diligence in reviewing the 658-page impeachment report, I came to the conclusion that I could not in good conscience vote either yes or no. I am standing in the center and have decided to vote Present. I could not in good conscience vote against impeachment because I believe President Trump is guilty of wrongdoing. I also could not in good conscience vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting president must not be the culmination of a partisan process, fueled by tribal animosities that have so gravely divided our country.
Gabbard had elaborated further in a video, stating:
Here’s the deal. Politics should not be a zero-sum game, but tragically, that’s exactly what it has become, and it’s polluted the whole nature of our politics. The point of politics should not be about doing maximum damage to your opponents just to win, because all that’s happened, as has in the case of our current America, is that people get hurt and nothing gets done. My stance yesterday, my vote, was opting out of this zero-sum game mindset and back into one of negotiation and compromise. We are stuck right now in this terrible scenario where everyone is trying to exact maximum hurt from their opponent for a “win.”
My “present” vote was not passive; it was an active protest against the terrible fallout of this zero-sum mindset that the two opposing political parties have trapped America in. There’s no winning here. Everyone is losing. Our country is losing. If we, we, don’t break this stalemate we find ourselves in, America is done for. My vote and my campaign for president is about freeing our country from this damaging mindset so that we can work side by side to usher in a brighter future for all Americans.