Harris rips Gabbard over Fox appearances during Obama years

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) sparred at Wednesday night’s 2020 primary debate, with the California senator accusing Gabbard of undercutting President Obama during appearances on Fox News during his tenure. 

“I think that it’s unfortunate that we have someone on this stage who is attempting to be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States who during the Obama administration spent four years full-time on Fox News criticizing President Obama,” Harris said.

“That’s ridiculous, Sen. Harris,” Gabbard responded.

Harris continued with her attacks on Gabbard, particularly hitting her over her meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“What we need on this stage, in November, is someone who has the ability to win … We need someone on that stage who has the ability to go toe-to-toe with Donald Trump and someone who has the ability to rebuild the Obama coalition and bring the party and the nation together,” Harris concluded.  

Kamala Harris opens up a can on Tulsi Gabbard and her right-wing ties. #Democraticdebate #demdebate pic.twitter.com/6DJt8OjZOj

— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) November 20, 2019

The back-and-forth came after Gabbard accused the Democratic Party of relying on old-fashioned foreign policies and being in the pocket of special interest groups.

“Our Democratic Party unfortunately is not the party that is of, by and for the people. It is a party that has been and continues to be influenced by the foreign policy establishment in Washington, represented by Hillary Clinton and others’ foreign policy, by the military industrial complex and other greedy, corporate interests,” she said.

Gabbard and Clinton, the Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nominee, have engaged in a weeks-long feud since Clinton accused the Hawaii lawmaker of being “the favorite of the Russians,” accusing Gabbard of holding foreign policy views that align with Russia’s priorities.