Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said at a town hall this week that she is studying more about the impeachment process amid the investigations into whether any aides to President Donald Trump’s campaign were involved in Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Gabbard cautioned though that getting rid of Trump would mean a President Mike Pence, who she argued would be more effective in pushing a conservative agenda through Congress.
“On issue of impeachment, I am doing my homework,” Gabbard said at a town hall Wednesday in Hilo, Hawaii. “I am studying more about the impeachment process. I will just say I understand the calls for impeachment, but what I am being cautious about and what I give you food for thought about is that if President Trump is impeached, the problems don’t go away, because then you have a Vice President Pence who becomes President Pence.”
Gabbard continued, “If you do your research on his positions on many of the issues we’ve talked, many of the issues that I get phone calls about from people all across the state, the issue of war and peace, he’s about as hawkish as they come,” Gabbard said of Pence. “Issues relating to the environment, education, healthcare — I disagree with so many of the positions that he has. In some ways given the fact that he’s a former member of Congress and very well connected within the Republican establishment in Washington, he’d be able to, I believe, be far more effective in furthering his agenda than we have seen so far in President Trump’s first 100 days.”
Gabbard met with then-President-elect Trump in November to discuss foreign policy issues, specifically Syria and ISIS. More recently, she has been critical of his military actions in Syria.
