Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) joins Bill to discuss her strategy to beat Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
Bill Maher:
0:04 She is the first female combat veteran running to be president in United States and Hawaii’s rep from the second congressional district there -Tulsi Gabbard. I love you and I love Hawaii I thought you did quite well. We’re going to eliminate some people tonight and you’re not one of them. I want you to stick around. What do you think of the debates in general? How do you think the party in general looked look?
Tulsi Gabbard:
0:55 I think it is it’s tough when you’ve got 60 seconds to say – how are you going to solve climate change? how are you going to deal with the national security threats that we face? how are you going to deal with this threat of nuclear war that we face? I think the format is challenging but I think all of this really comes down to who can best defeat Donald Trump.
Bill Maher:
1:18 Well, if I was just passing viewer, it was like checking over the field chopping my first look at a lot of these people I would have thought The Democrats really care about illegal immigrants. They also care somewhat about health care and energy and the environment, mostly about how they affect illegal immigrants. At one-point last night they were asked or was it your night to raise your hand if you think that illegal immigrants should get free health care. They all raise their hand and (this was the New York Post headline today) – who wants to lose the election. What do you think about that?
Tulsi Gabbard:
2:04 Look, I saw an interview that you did recently talking specifically about how the media is driving for profits and ratings and divisiveness, rather than actually looking at what are the real issues that the American people are struggling with, how are we as candidates running for president seeking to solve those challenges. But ultimately, I think what all of this comes down to is that ultimate question is – who the best candidate is to defeat Donald Trump that’s our objective in November of 2020.
Bill Maher:
2:32 The people on this stage if they seem to be playing to the Twitter rowdy yeah that 72% one thing, I like about you is having been to war I feel like your attitude about the Twitter people is like – I’ve been to war so I could give a shit about what you people say about me.
Tulsi Gabbard:
2:54 This is really about leadership or the lack thereof and we have too many politicians, who you know put their finger up to the Twitter wind and see which way it’s blowing. And then respond or change their position or whatever the case may be, rather than actually leading looking at these issues based on their merit on their substance saying what is in the best interests of the American people. That that’s what I try to do. And honestly people have a hard time figuring me out, because I don’t play those games right, I don’t fit in those boxes that they set up.
Bill Maher:
3:28 I mean politicians have always put their finger to the wind. That’s okay to some point you’re supposed to represent to a degree to people who voted for you. But put your finger up to the 98% yeah not the 2%. If you’re going to put your finger in the wind, don’t do it to the 2%. This is my request. So what do you think of who this all got buried because of the debates.
3:52 Trump is in Japan he met with Putin, loved it, of course, he is his spirit animal. He was joking about the fact that Putin meddled in our election. Some reporter said are you going to tell President Putin not to meddle in the election? He made a joke out of it. He made a joke out of the fact he said something about – reporters fake news. We have to deal with that. We’re lucky, in Russia you don’t (which you know Putin is killed by some accounts over 20 journalists). This is just beyond the pale.
Tulsi Gabbard: (about voting)
4:31 We have to take seriously the security of our elections, because of the vulnerabilities that exists still now. That really have the ability to undermine our democracy. There’s a hacking conference that’s held every year in Las Vegas. There a 14- or 15-year-old girl from Florida hacked into a replica of Florida’s election system in less than 15 minutes. There are too many states in this country who still don’t use any type of paper ballot or have any paper record of the votes that are cast. So when you think about whether it’s a foreign country, or a rogue actor, or a high school student who’s going in with the intent of manipulating the outcome of the votes that we cast. That is the true danger to our democracy and to our elections.
5:21 I’ve introduced legislation called the securing America’s Elections Act, that would very simply solve that. Make sure that there’s either a paper ballot or if you’re using a machine have a voter verified paper backup. So that no matter what happens, no matter who tries to interfere in our elections. We have the ability to audit that vote that are. Well, the problem is that whether it’s Republicans leadership or Democrats leadership. They’re talking about how much they care about the security of our elections, but they’ve failed to do anything about. It they’ve failed to pass my legislation or other people who’ve introduced similar pieces of legislation. it’s all talk, no actions.
Bill Maher:
5:57 It’s amazing to me how the Republicans can see a display like that of Trump with Putin. He’s done this before, but with the American flag pin.
T (American people interest first)
6:14 Look it is getting back to what our mission is, what our focus is. Putting the interests of the American people. Above all else and that is the problem with Washington. There is one party or the other party they’ll go after the other party, they turn our guide to the problems in their own rather than putting the key recognize
Bill Maher:
6:38 One place where you’re fairly similar to Trump is you’re non-interventionist. You see this with Iran lately. He’s kind of torn. Part of him of course always wants to strike back, but he has kind of staked his claim Foreign Affairs wise on being the guy who does not want us to get into more Wars more regime, change worse. You’re on that same page.
Tulsi Gabbard: (about Trump)
6:57 He talked a lot about that in his 2016 campaign, but through his administration and through his presidency we’ve seen something very different. I think that’s why a lot of folks who voted for him, they feel very betrayed. You mentioned Iran. He says he doesn’t want to go to war with Iran, but if you look at the actions that he and his administration have taken, and maybe he’s not aware of it. Maybe these guys are doing on their own: John Boehner, Mike Pompeo and others. Every single decision that they have made, towards Iran is laying the groundwork for an eventual war.
Bill Maher:
7:33 But we’re not there yet. He could have done it last week when they shot down the drone and he said something (which I think if Obama would said, he would not have liked). We don’t know who made that order. That’s what Kennedy said in Cuban Missile Crisis
Tulsi Gabbard:
7:50 If He really doesn’t want to go to war with Iran, he’s got to swallow his pride and get back into the Iran nuclear game. If he doesn’t John Bolton and Mike Pompeo and others, they have literally laid the dynamite.
Bill Maher:
8:08 I know but use one thing about him, he’s the boss yeah you know he doesn’t care what other people say. Where you want impeachment?
Tulsi Gabbard:
8:20 Impeachment is not goanna get rid of Donald Trump. We’ve got understand that first. I think it’s important that the American people are the ones who decisively defeat Donald Trump in 2020.
