Tulsi Gabbard said she is weighing sitting out of Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate in order to bring attention to a debate process that she argues is undemocratic.
“The DNC and the corporate media are essentially trying to usurp your role as voters in choosing who our Democratic nominee will be,” Gabbard said in a video released Thursday. “They are attempting to replace the roles of voters in the early states using polling and other arbitrary methods which are not transparent or democratic, and they’re holding so-called debates which really are not debates at all but rather commercialized reality television meant to entertain, rather than to inform or enlighten.”
The Hawaii congresswoman and Iraq veteran is 1 of 12 Democratic presidential hopefuls slated to appear in Ohio on Tuesday for a debate hosted by CNN and the New York Times.
“In order to bring attention to this serious threat to our democracy and to ensure that your voice is heard, I’m seriously considering boycotting the next debate on October 15th,” Gabbard said. “I’m going to announce my decision within the next few days.”
[Related: DNC plans to limit debate stage curbed as Tulsi Gabbard qualifies for October debate]
I am seriously considering boycotting October 15 debate to bring attention to DNC/corporate media’s effort to rig 2020 primary. Not against Bernie this time, but against voters in early states Iowa, New Hampshire, South… –> https://t.co/x5P3GFGbyn pic.twitter.com/UgKCj6DGI0
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) October 10, 2019
She qualified for the October debate after missing the mark for the September round, which had the same standards of 130,000 individual donors plus 2% support in at least three Democratic National Committee-approved polls. The DNC did not count many polls showing Gabbard at 2% support toward the qualifying threshold, causing her campaign in August to call on the DNC to “make adjustments to the process now to ensure transparency and fairness.”
Gabbard, who resigned from her post as the DNC vice chairwoman in 2016 so she could endorse Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton, pointed to the last Democratic presidential primary cycle as evidence of a corrupt system.
“The 2016 Democratic Primary election was rigged by the DNC and their partners in the corporate media against Bernie Sanders,” she said. “In this 2020 election, the DNC and the corporate media are rigging the election again.”
Critics wondered whether Gabbard’s threat is serious or whether she may have other motives for skipping the debate.
“Some Democrats have been saying all along Gabbard’s plan was to divide the party and help Trump. This evidence strengthens that case,” New York magazine writer Jonathan Chait said in a tweet.
“This is a pathetic and desperate gambit, but she is correct that the debates are reality TV meant to entertain more than inform,” said writer Gary Legum.
President Trump skipped a Republican presidential primary debate during the 2016 cycle, an escalation of his feud with then-Fox News host and debate moderator Megyn Kelly.
Gabbard was the most-searched candidate after debates in June and July. She tore into competitor Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan during the June round for incorrectly saying that the Taliban attacked the United States on 9/11. In the July round, she accused California Sen. Kamala Harris of keeping innocent people on death row.
Gabbard has crossed the 165,000 donor threshold for the November debate but has not received any qualifying polls for that round, which requires 3% in at least four polls or 5% support in two early state polls.
