Politics

Fireworks: Tulsi Gabbard And Kamala Harris Clash Over Hillary Clinton, Democratic Policies

MSNBC screenshot

Justin Caruso Contributor
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Hawaii Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard criticized the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton on stage during the MSNBC debate Wednesday, leading to a sharp-tounged clash California Sen. Kamala Harris.

Gabbard, in her first statement of the night, said that the Democratic Party “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.”

Gabbard continued to criticize the Democrats over their foreign policy stances.

Harris shot back at the Hawaii Democrat, saying, “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…”

“That’s ridiculous, Senator Harris, that’s ridiculous,” Gabbard responded.

The California Democrat continued to rip into Gabbard, accusing her of not calling out war criminals.

Finally, Gabbard responded, “What Senator Harris is doing is unfortunately continuing to traffic in lies, and smears, and innuendos, because, she cannot challenge the substance of the argument that I’m making, the leadership and the change that I’m seeking to bring in our foreign policy, which only makes me guess that she will as president, continue the status quo, continue the Bush-Clinton-Trump foreign policy of regime change wars, which is deeply destructive.”

The two Democratic women first exchanged barbs in the second round of debates in July when Gabbard criticized Harris’ record as a prosecutor, especially on marijuana issues.

“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,” Gabbard said.

Harris responded by calling herself a “top-tier candidate” following the debate, also accusing Gabbard of being a “apologist” for Assad. (RELATED: ‘Answer For It. The Voters Deserve To Know’: Tulsi Gabbard Is Not Finished With Kamala Harris)

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton criticized Gabbard last month, accusing her of being a “favorite of the Russians.” Gabbard responded by calling Clinton the “queen of warmongers.”

Watch the full clip.