Trump says he gives Democrat Tulsi Gabbard 'a lot of respect' for voting present on impeachment

William Cummings | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Tulsi Gabbard explains why she voted 'present' on impeachment vote Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard says she's "standing in the center" and voted "present" on impeachment vote of President Trump.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard angered some of her fellow Democrats by voting "present" last week on both articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, but she earned praise from the man who is the target of those charges.

"I give her respect. She didn't vote the other day. I give her a lot of respect. Because she knew it was wrong. She took a pass," Trump said Saturday at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Gabbard, however, did not say that she declined to vote one way or the other on the president's impeachment because she thought it was "wrong" but because she was concerned about the lack of bipartisan support for his removal.

In fact, the congresswoman from Hawaii said in a statement after the impeachment vote that she believes "Trump is guilty of wrongdoing." But she said, "I also could not in good conscience vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting President must not be the culmination of a partisan process, fueled by tribal animosities that have so gravely divided our country."

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President @realDonaldTrump on Tulsi Gabbard voting present on Impeachment:



"I give her respect. She didn't vote the other day. I give her a lot of respect. She knew it was wrong."#SAS2019 pic.twitter.com/Mlthu4IlIa — Benny (@bennyjohnson) December 21, 2019

Gabbard, who has said she does not plan to run for reelection next year, drew sharp criticism from Hawaiian State Sen. Kai Kahele, who is running to fill her seat.

"Clearly her vote is unacceptable. It’s disappointing," Kahele said, adding it was "not what the taxpayers of Hawaii sent her here for."

Criticism also poured in on social media as people used #TulsiCoward to share attacks on the Iraq war veteran.

On Saturday, Trump also implied that he identified with Gabbard because of an interview in which Hillary Clinton called Gabbard a "favorite of the Russians" while she discussed her belief that the Trump campaign was looking at Gabbard as a third-party candidate who could siphon off Democratic votes in 2020.

Clinton's remarks were taken out of context and several news organizations incorrectly reported that Clinton said the Russians were actively "grooming" Gabbard, but the president took it a step further and falsely claimed Clinton had called her a "weapon of Russia."

"I don't know her, but I know one thing: she's not an agent of Russia," Trump said, claiming Clinton "lost all credibility" and comparing his characterization of the criticism of Gabbard to what "they said about me three years ago."

Trump said Clinton "lost all credibility" for her claim against Gabbard, as well as a similar charge she made against 2016 Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the same interview.

Contributing: Bart Jansen, Nicholas Wu and Savannah Behrmann

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