‘She’s Gone Away’ — Tulsi Gabbard’s Old Friends in the House Are Baffled by Her Nomination

The former House Democrat had a “big friend group” that now can’t comprehend her shift toward Trump or her selection to be director of national intelligence.

Tulsi Gabbard
Alex Brandon/AP

Tulsi Gabbard used to have a lot of friends in the House Democratic caucus. But now that she’s Donald Trump’s choice to oversee the U.S. intelligence agencies — after years of shifting rightward — those Democrats have gone silent or just fully had a change of heart.

“I spent a lot of time with Tulsi. You know, we were all part of, like, a big friend group, and I was surprised that she’s taken the turn that she has,” Rep. Marc Veasey told NOTUS. “I don’t think that she’s a good fit for that role.”

Gabbard — who represented Hawaii in the House for eight years and ran in the Democratic presidential primary in 2020 — became an independent in 2022 and officially announced her switch to the Republican Party at a Trump rally in October.