The tradition continues.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's (D., Hawaii) decision to suspend her female presidential campaign on Thursday ensures America's 232-year streak of having a male commander in chief will remain unbroken.
Gabbard exits the Democratic primary as its most successful female candidate, having outlasted numerous rivals, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), Kamala Harris (D., Calif.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.).
The 38-year-old Iraq war veteran will be remembered as a lady legend for the way she absolutely humiliated Harris during the Democratic debate in July. Gabbard bludgeoned Harris, sometimes referred to as a cop, with criticism of her authoritarian record as attorney general of California.
"[Harris] put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana," said Gabbard, citing a Washington Free Beacon report. Harris accused Gabbard (and the Free Beacon) of peddling a "lie" about her record.
Harris had a point. In fact, more than 1,900 people were imprisoned for marijuana-related offenses during her time as attorney general, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections revealed. The Free Beacon apologized for the error.
Gabbard continued to pummel Harris throughout the debate. "She blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so," Gabbard said, formidably. "She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California and she fought to keep a cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way."
Even liberal New York Times columnists were awestruck by Gabbard's epic debate smackdown of Harris, who had been a top-three candidate in polling around that time before dropping off a cliff in the fall of 2019. Michelle Goldberg praised the attacks on Harris as "absolutely brutal," while Maureen Dowd commented on how "rattled" Harris seemed.
Harris dropped out of the race in early December, two months before the Iowa caucus. She declined to endorse a female candidate at the time. Nevertheless, she persisted in complaining about sexism before ultimately endorsing former vice president Joe Biden, a 77-year-old white man.
Gabbard's extraordinary female success in the Democratic primary was the result of many factors, but her reliance on Free Beacon investigative reporting in her legendary shock-and-awe attack was certainly a crucial ingredient. For taking down and outlasting her cop rival, Gabbard is heavily favored to take home a Free Beacon Man of the Year award in 2020.
Congrats!