Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) warned during a Fox News interview with anchor Bret Baier that powerful elites in the U.S. who go out of their way to destroy anyone that is a threat to them represent “a threat to our country and our democracy.”
Gabbard made the remarks toward the tail end of an interview in which she called the situation on the southern border “an utter disaster and failure” while pinning blame directly on “the Biden-Harris administration’s open border policy.” Gabbard warned “we have no idea who is coming across the border.”
Speaking on Afghanistan, Gabbard said that “the way that this administration executed that withdrawal has been an utter and abject disaster, which is continuing to play out as we speak.”
Baier later brought up the latest news from special counsel John Durham’s criminal investigation into the origins of the Russia probe after there was an indictment of a Hillary Clinton attorney, Michael Sussman, who Baier said was “basically infusing this Russia narrative with the help of various media outlets and others.”
“Your thoughts as we’re starting to get this Durham investigation and what that means?” Baier asked.
“Confirms what I’ve known to be true, which is that you have the power elite, people like Hillary Clinton, those around her working with the media, the deep state in order to bring down the destruction and downfall of anyone that they deem to be a threat to their power,” Gabbard said. “Outsiders, people like me, people like Donald Trump, doesn’t matter, Democrat or Republican, if they identify, hey, this is someone who’s not going to toe the line, this is someone who’s not going to follow kind of the establishment way of things that are accepted, they pose a threat and we will do, they will do all they can to silence or censor or cancel what they view to be a threat and so this is bigger than than about me or Trump or anyone else.”
She concluded, “This is actually a threat to our country and our democracy the arrogance that these people have in thinking they have the right to manipulate the American people, what they view, what they hear, what they see, all to preserve their own selfish interest, not caring at all about the impact on the country, the impact of the American people or who gets hurt along the way.”
WATCH:
TRANSCRIPT:
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: Let’s bring in former Hawaii Democratic Congresswoman, former presidential candidate and Army reservist Tulsi Gabbert. She’s just back from deployment in Africa to go after al Qaeda affiliate jihadists there. Hi, congresswoman, thanks for joining us.
TULSI GABBARD: Hey, Brett.
BAIER: I want to talk about Afghanistan, foreign policy, and counterterrorism. But I want to start on the issue of immigration that’s pressing now in the news, you tweeted out this today. You said ‘the Biden Harris open door policy has been a disaster it needs to end now. The main beneficiaries of open borders are the gangs, cartels and human traffickers. The Trump policy of having people wait on the other side of the border worked and needs to be reinstated.’ Your thoughts about what’s happening in Del Rio and how the administration is handling it?
GABBARD: It is an utter disaster and failure. And it’s directly attributed to the Biden-Harris administration’s open border policy. This is not only a humanitarian crisis, it is a national security crisis. And it’s something I’ve said all along, which is that if we do not secure our borders, then we can’t have a secure nation. There are so many issues that that have happened under this administration that have led to this point. And their continued failure of leadership is exacerbating the crisis that we’re seeing play out before our very eyes.
BAIER: Do you think, having been in Congress, that Congress can deal with this issue?
GABBARD: Congress has proven unfortunately, to put partisan politics ahead of actually passing real necessary immigration policy reform. But what we’ve seen under the last several months under this administration, unfortunately, and Joe Biden is a friend, I hold no malice towards him. But I have to say that the the policies and decisions that have been made via executive order by the White House have led to this open border policy, with thousands, tens of thousands, of people coming and attempting to and sometimes successfully streaming across the border.
BAIER: And you think that’s a national security threat as well?
GABBARD: It absolutely is, how can you say that it’s not when we have no idea who is coming across the border? And once again, how can we ensure safety and security for the American people, when we don’t have a secure border.
BAIER: Alright, the counterterrorism fight, the president talking about how its evolving, how it’s going to change, take a listen.
…
BAIER: There are a lot of people congresswoman who say, what happened in Afghanistan, and what is happening now, and how we handled it, has really opened the door for more terrorists. You’ve just come back from Africa, which is also a hotbed of radical jihadists, your thoughts of where we are?
GABBARD: Well, as you know, Bret, in both East and West Africa, there is a surge of these jihadist terrorists, Al Qaeda, ISIS and affiliated groups are increasing in their strength. The withdrawal from Afghanistan is something that I agreed with. But unfortunately, the way that this administration executed that withdrawal has been an utter and abject disaster, which is continuing to play out as we speak. For those who say, and we should continue to monitor Afghanistan to make sure that there are no al Qaeda and ISIS strongholds that are allowed to start to take root, if we’re seeing that that’s starting to happen then we need to go and take them out, but we should not be under the illusion that this is a problem that’s only limited to Afghanistan. And the proof of that is that al Qaeda for a very long time has been able to get refuge in and actually have training camps and, and support in Pakistan, which is a problem that not only hasn’t been addressed, but we’ve seen the United States continue to support Pakistan, in spite of this known fact and reality. So this is a bigger issue here. That really needs to be addressed.
BAIER: Are you still a Democrat?
GABBARD: Yes.
BAIER: And will continue to be despite the criticism on a number of fronts?
GABBARD: Well, look, I’ve never been about party politics, Bret, I think you know that about me, I’m about putting country first. And the problems that we’re seeing on a whole host of policy fronts is those in positions of power and leadership, putting partisan politics, their own selfish desire for power, ahead of the interests of the country, ahead of the interests of the people. And that is, that’s what I always try to do my very best in looking at different policies is, we have to put the people and the interests of our country first.
BAIER: Well, I want to ask you about this. You know, we’re just getting the tip of the iceberg about this John Durham investigation and there’s been an indictment of a Hillary Clinton attorney, Mr. Sussman, about basically infusing this Russia narrative with the help of various media outlets and others. And it may go other places, we don’t know, we’re following it, but you have a unique perspective in that Hillary Clinton once called you a Russian asset, just to remind people. Take a listen.
….
BAIER: Your thoughts as we’re starting to get this Durham investigation and what that means?
GABBARD: Confirms what I’ve known to be true, which is that you have the power elite, people like Hillary Clinton, those around her working with the media, the deep state in order to bring down the destruction and downfall of anyone that they deem to be a threat to their power. Outsiders, people like me, people like Donald Trump, doesn’t matter, Democrat or Republican, if they identify, hey, this is someone who’s not going to toe the line, this is someone who’s not going to follow the kind of the establishment way of things that are accepted, they pose a threat and we will do, they will do all they can to silence or censor or cancel what they view to be a threat and so this is bigger than than about me or Trump or anyone else. This is actually a threat to our country and our democracy the arrogance that these people have in thinking they have the right to manipulate the American people, what they view, what they hear, what they see, all to preserve their own selfish interest, not caring at all about the impact on the country, the impact of the American people or who gets hurt along the way.
BAIER: So I was interested to hear your point of view. You’re welcome back anytime. Thank you.