Read the full transcript of Tulsi Gabbard’s speech at Donald Trump’s rally in Duluth, Georgia on Oct. 23, 2024.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
TULSI GABBARD: Aloha, Georgia. Amazing. It is so inspiring and electrifying to be here with all of you here tonight. How many veterans or members of the military we got in the crowd?
So we got 12 days and a wake-up till Election Day. The heat is on. It’s funny how crazy things have been and how much has changed. You know, I was a Democrat for over 20 years. The Democrat party that I joined is completely unrecognizable today.
State of the Democratic Party
I never would have imagined that we would have a Democrat party under Kamala Harris that is anti-freedom. It’s the party of war. It’s the party of censorship. It’s the party of open borders, and it’s the party of poverty.
Who would have thought that Kamala Harris and Dick Cheney would define today’s Democrat party? What’s crazy to me is when Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney announced their endorsement of Kamala Harris, I thought, “Gosh, you know, the old Democrat party would have said thanks but no thanks, because we’re a party of peace.” Not anymore.
Kamala Harris, without even pretending to care about peace, shamelessly embraced their endorsements, and the endorsements of those who care more about power and feeding the war machine than they do about taking care of our brothers and sisters in Western North Carolina right now.
Current Challenges
It’s outrageous to me that here we are, 12 days out from Election Day, and we have a presidential candidate who is celebrating sending hundreds of millions of our taxpayer dollars to help other people in other countries, supposedly help them, while turning her back on our fellow Americans who need help the most right now.
We have friends who are veterans who are still out there in Western North Carolina who are still getting out there to the small towns who have not seen anyone from any government agency show up to help them.
And their sole message to those who I met when I was out there and those who are coming and delivering whatever we possibly can to help them survive the cold at night, saying “Please don’t forget us.” But that’s what we have in the Kamala Harris presidency. If she were to be allowed to serve there as a person who doesn’t care about us and who has forgotten the American people, nothing short of freedom and our ability to live in a truly free and peaceful and prosperous country is on the line in this election.
Never before have we seen a Republican pose a greater threat to the Uniparty war machine in Washington than Donald J. Trump. And that’s why they have been doing and are doing everything they possibly can to destroy him. First to try to remove him from the ballot, then waging lawfare and weaponizing the Department of Justice and law enforcement at every level in a way that has never happened before in this country.
All so that they could have this talking point to try to tell us, the American people, “Well who are you going to vote for, a felon?” Why are they doing this? They are doing this because he has the courage to take on and root out the deep corruption and rot that exists in the entrenched Washington establishment. And he’s doing it for us.
Personal Experience and Warning
No matter what they throw at him, when you look at him it seems like his resolve grows stronger and stronger. He is not backing down. So we face a pivotal time as Americans. Regardless of anyone’s political affiliation, the choice for us is very clear.
The Choice Ahead
We have a choice between a presidential candidate who has shown through her record that she would have a presidency of more war, more war, and more war and pushing us to the brink of nuclear war. She would have a presidency that is against free speech, not hesitating to use the levers of her power to retaliate against political opponents as she has done with Donald Trump, as she has done with Bobby Kennedy, and she has done with me.
They went so far as one day after when Kamala Harris was announced that she would be the nominee going forward to replace Joe Biden, I spoke out on Fox News about how dangerous that would be for us as Americans if she were to be the person with the nuclear codes. The very next day I was placed on a secret domestic terror watch list called Quiet Skies.
No explanation, no due process. It was federal air marshal whistleblowers who were so disgusted by being used as pawns by this administration who doesn’t hesitate to abuse their power that they came forward and told the truth. This is what we need more of in our country.
Call to Action
Now, for those of you who may have friends or family or co-workers or those who you know in your lives who haven’t made up their minds yet in this election, I encourage you to have those conversations.
Listen to their concerns. Turn down all of the noise and the propaganda that is flooding the airwaves and focus on what is most important to every one of us, and that is our God-given rights and freedoms enshrined in our Constitution and Bill of Rights, the vision that our founders had for us, that every one of us as Americans has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Our Constitutional Duty
It is up to us to save our country, every one of us as Americans. Our founders put in our founding documents that our government will not exist without the consent of the governed.
When they wrote those words, “We the People,” that is and was and always will be a direct call to action to every one of us to fulfill our responsibility as citizens in this country to defend our freedom because our freedom is on the line.
The Path Forward
So when we go to cast our votes, how many of you have already voted? All right. So that means the work you’ve got to do over the next 12 days is to find at least 10 people in your lives who have not voted, convince them why it is important to stand together to defend our freedom and vote for Donald Trump, and don’t stop calling them until they tell you that they’ve actually voted.
Our ability to live in a truly free and peaceful and prosperous society is what is at stake in this election, and that affects all of us no matter who we are or where we come from. There’s no doubt in my mind that President Trump is our best and only hope in this election to lead our country, to save our country, and to save the world, bringing peace not only here at home but abroad.
Closing Remarks
A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for freedom. A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for secure borders and safe communities. A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for peace. A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for every one of us as Americans to be able to stand strong and proud and recognize that in this country we are once again that shining city on a hill that is committed to our Constitution and our way of life.
We’ve got 12 days and a wake-up. When we listen to the bugle call of Reveille that sounds on every military base across the country, first thing in the morning and then later at the end of the day, marking the raising of the flag and the lowering of the flag, those of you who have been on a military base understand that when that bugle sounds, everything stops.
People walking down the street will stop. Cars driving down the street will stop. Everything stops for those moments because it’s an opportunity for every one of us to reflect on what that flag means, to reflect on the lives that have been sacrificed, those who have paid the ultimate price to defend our freedom and to never forget.
So I encourage you, because it’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of everyday life. It’s easy to get caught up in the back-and-forth sniping that happens in our politics too much. It’s easy to get caught up in the noise. It is critical for us to remain firmly rooted and grounded in our purpose and this no-fail mission that every one of us faces in this election, the most important election of our lives.
That on those days when we may feel weary, on those days when your friends or your family may be spewing hate and criticism at you because of the position you have taken in supporting President Trump and defending our freedom, in those days when it feels like it’s just too hard, think back to the sacrifices those before us have made so that we can gather here today in the greatest country in the world and work harder.
We cannot rest until we do all we can to bring our country together around our shared ideals and principles, vote for President Trump, to send him back to the White House so that he can make America great again, and so that we can get to do the real work of making sure our government is once again of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Thank you all so much for taking a stand for our country and for your support for President Donald J. Trump. I am proud to be with all of you. Thank you so much.
