MAR-A-LAGO, Fla.—Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat congresswoman who is now considered a possible Republican vice-presidential pick, is tackling a mission ahead of the November general election.
“I love our country, deeply. I don’t hold office; I’m not here to campaign or ask for votes. I’m here to ask you to join me in this fight for our freedom,” Ms. Gabbard told about 250 people who gathered at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club and Resort for a nonprofit group’s fundraiser.
The former Hawaii congresswoman and a second prior presidential hopeful, former Republican candidate Larry Elder, made remarks on March 7 at the 917 Society’s “Celebrating The Constitution” gala in the Grand Ballroom.
Mr. Elder and Ms. Gabbard spoke in Florida just before Democrat President Joe Biden gave his annual State of The Union speech, a constitutionally required report, to Congress in Washington. President Biden seized the opportunity to argue why voters should return him to office rather than vote for his presumed opponent, the Republican presumptive nominee: President Trump.
“Brazen” assaults on constitutional rights have escalated during the past few years, Ms. Gabbard said. While she did not specifically name President Biden, that span coincides with his term. He took office in 2021 under the cloud of a disputed election.
After President Trump vacated the White House, he was prosecuted for challenging the election results in Georgia, when all he wanted to do was “make sure every vote was counted,” Mr. Elder said.
Throughout President Trump’s four-year term of office, his 2016 Democrat opponent, Hillary Clinton, had continued to characterize him as an “illegitimate president.” Yet no one called her “an election denier,” Mr. Elder said, adding, “We assumed that they have a First Amendment right to complain.”
Yet there has been a double standard and a two-tiered system of justice, both of which allow liberals to skate while conservatives are targeted, Mr. Elder said.
President Trump also has been repeatedly banned from social media platforms.
“Have you ever seen someone engaged in his right to free speech be attacked with the ferocity that Donald Trump has been attacked with?” Mr. Elder asked.
Without explicitly naming President Trump, Ms. Gabbard also denounced government suppression of free speech with the help of “Big Tech” media and information companies.
She decried the government’s impinging on religious freedoms. And she expressed concern over maintaining the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
The nation’s founding fathers guaranteed the right of Americans “to not only defend ourselves and our loved ones, but also to be that check on the power of a tyrannical government,” Ms. Gabbard said.
Unconstitutional acts are driven by people who are “willing to sacrifice our Republic, and our freedom, and our Constitution” for the sake of their “insatiable hunger for power,” she said.
“We need to sound the alarm to those who aren’t yet hearing it; it’s what I’m dedicating my life to between now and November 5th,” she said, drawing applause and cheers from the 917 Society. “I cannot overstate what is at stake in this election.”
The all-volunteer group, which promotes awareness of the Constitution, is named for Sept. 17, Constitution Day.
Eager to Hear Her
Her appearance had been in the making for more than a year, 917 Society founder Joni Bryan told The Epoch Times. She sought Ms. Gabbard as a guest speaker after hearing her publicly declare love and respect for the Constitution–a stance that has somehow become controversial, Ms. Bryan said.Attendees came from across the nation to hear Ms. Gabbard speak, Ms. Bryan said.
Ms. Gabbard had run for president as a Democrat, opposing then-candidate Joe Biden in 2020. Two years later, Ms. Gabbard quit the Democratic Party because she became fed up with its increasingly radical, “woke” ideology.
She has written a soon-to-be-released book, “For Love of Country: Leave the Democrat Party Behind.” Ms. Gabbard said she kept making last-minute additions to the book because it explores “things that are being done to undermine our freedom,” and there has been a “nonstop barrage” of those attacks.
But Ms. Gabbard was pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court recently rendered a decision bucking that trend.
In a unanimous ruling, the justices said state officials lacked authority to remove President Trump from the Colorado ballot. By reaching that conclusion, the justices are “reminding those in power ... they have no right to unilaterally try to tell us who we are and are not allowed to vote for; they are not allowed to decide who gets to be on the ballot, and who doesn’t,” Ms. Gabbard said.
In deference to the Society’s nonpartisan status, Ms. Gabbard, as keynote speaker, made no explicit mention of President Trump or any other politician.
Standing Up
Citizens cannot stand up for their rights if they don’t know what those rights are, she pointed out. She urged attendees to make sure that everyone in their “sphere of influence” becomes more aware of constitutional provisions.Ms. Bryan of Nashville founded the 917 Society seven years ago after becoming painfully aware that she—and many other Americans—had never once read the Constitution. Despite being censored on social media, the group has grown.
Liz Furey, a founding member of the 917 Society’s Florida group, feels strongly about the group’s mission to stand up for free speech in particular.
“We see what’s happening with the censorship. And when you lose your voice, you lose your rights,” she said. “Censorship is what happens in other countries; that is not what happens in a free society.”
During the past year, the 917 Society worked with other organizations nationwide to distribute 1 million copies of the Constitution to eighth graders. Mery Lopez Palma, her husband, and their four children packed and delivered 28,000 U.S. Constitutions in Broward County, Florida, alone.
Ms. Bryan said, “I just feel so grateful that others feel the way I feel and want to help, because I can’t do it alone. ... It’s been a labor of love for sure. But I’ve got all these wonderful people. And together we’re gonna make sure that our young people know how amazing this country is.”
The 917 Society hopes to double its reach this year. The group is trying to raise $315,000, which will pay for printing 2 million Constitution booklets to hand out; contributions, which can be made at the917society.org, are tax-deductible.
Its eventual goal is to provide pocket copies of the Constitution to all 6 million U.S. children who are in eighth grade when the Constitution is typically included in school curricula.
“Joni and her mission really captured my heart,” Ms. Gabbard said, noting that during her presidential campaign, she handed out U.S. constitutions at every town hall meeting she held.
As a member of the military and of Congress, Ms. Gabbard promised to uphold the Constitution. “That oath means something powerful to me,” she said. “And it’s something I carry with me every day.”
Ms. Gabbard said she knows many people feel overpowered by the nation’s political machinery; many worry that more needs to be done to ensure that elections are fair and secure. But Ms. Gabbard reminded her audience that the citizenry far outnumbers the Washington elites. And, “we cannot underestimate what we, the people, can accomplish,” she said.
The audience rewarded Ms. Gabbard with a standing ovation.
Ms. Lopez Palma told The Epoch Times that Ms. Gabbard created a positive impression.
“It takes a lot of fortitude to stand up to the party you were once part of and say: ‘No mas,’” Spanish for “no more,” said Ms. Lopez Palma, a Latina. “By her words tonight, she has shown that she believes she was in a wrong place for many years. ... For that, I applaud her.”
