One might be tempted to think that the most shameless shape-shifter in the Trump administration is JD Vance. After all, the vice president once called Donald Trump America's Hitler, and ten years later, he is one of the president's most ardent supporters. But Vance is a piker compared to the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. No one in American politics is more brazenly hypocritical -- and considering the contenders in the Republican Congress, that's saying something.

Gabbard appeared last week before the House Select Intelligence Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee and, along with FBI Director Kash Patel and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, delivered the worldwide threats assessment. But most of the questions were about the war in Iran.

Prior to joining the Trump administration, she was known for her strident and uncompromising anti-war philosophy. In fact, when she ran for president in 2020 while serving as a congresswoman for Hawaii's second district, her platform was explicitly built around an anti-Iran war message.

Gabbard's testimony was of particular interest because, prior to joining the Trump administration, she was known for her strident and uncompromising anti-war philosophy. In fact, when she ran for president in 2020 while serving as a congresswoman for Hawaii's second district, her platform was explicitly built around an anti-Iran war message, which she specifically aimed at Trump. She even sold T-shirts that said, "No War With Iran."

Although Gabbard had been a Bernie Sanders supporter in previous races, after she dropped out of the primary campaign that year she endorsed Joe Biden, even though Sanders was still in the race. That move came as a surprise, but in retrospect it was just the beginning of her move away from the left, and it wasn't long before she began to play footsie with MAGA. With Trump running on his "America First" platform, and as the man who didn't start any new wars, his camp was a natural place for her to land. By 2024 she had fully transitioned to being a Trump supporter, and her support provided important validation for Trump's phony peacenik image, particularly among independent voters.

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