The Drama Between Kamala Harris And Tulsi Gabbard, Explained

Kamala Harris and Tulsi Gabbard have had beef for years, largely stemming from the 2019 Democratic Primary that saw Joe Biden chosen as the Democratic nominee for the 2020 presidency. Harris and Gabbard traded barbs on the primary debate stage, both seeming to land huge blows against one another. While the two vied for the nomination, they attacked each other's political careers. In the debate, Harris spoke about Gabbard's criticism of the Obama administration and her move toward Donald Trump. Gabbard's response eviscerated Harris on one common talking point.

Tulsi Gabbard attacked Harris' record as a prosecutor, saying in the debate: "Now, Sen. Harris says she's proud of her record as a prosecutor and that she'll be a prosecutor president. But I'm deeply concerned about this record. There are too many examples to cite, but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana." She continued by bringing up Harris' block of evidence in a death row case, keeping people in prison beyond their sentence, and a broken bail system. It was an awkward moment for Kamala Harris, as she struggled through her next responses.

While some of her points were fact-checked and proven incorrect, it earned her a ton of applause, and set up further drama between the two down the road.

Tulsi Gabbard ultimately lost her seat as the representative of Hawaii, while Kamala Harris became the Vice President of the United States. Gabbard also left the Democratic party, becoming a supporter of Donald Trump and viciously attacking the Biden-Harris administration in the years since their 2019 debate. But if anyone thought the bad blood between the two was a thing of the past, they would be horribly incorrect. Gabbard has remained critical of VP Harris since then, but she's also actively worked against the Vice President's presidential hopes.

Tulsi Gabbard was brought onto Donald Trump's debate preparation team in 2024. Before the second Presidential debate where he faced off against Harris, Trump tapped into Gabbard's performance against Harris in 2019 and sought her out for assistance. This was meant to hopefully clean up errors for Trump, like when he accidentally complimented Kamala while avoiding another debate. 

Since his recent victory, Gabbard has continued to be involved with Trump, she has been nominated to be Trump's Director of National Intelligence for his incoming administration, and she was even in consideration as one of Donald Trump's potential VP candidates.