Tulsi Gabbard says Democrats want to ‘erase women’ at Las Vegas rally for pro-Trump Adam Laxalt

Former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard got an enthusiastic welcome in Las Vegas on Friday where she’s campaigning for Republican Adam Laxalt in what may be the most consequential Senate race of the 2022 election cycle.

The former Hawaii congresswoman did not hesitate to tear into her former party, declaring that she turned her back on them for ‘hating freedom.’

She also accused the left of ‘undermining’ Title IX protections against gender discrimination by supporting transgender students’ participation in school sports.

Laxalt is in a dead heat with incumbent Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, who’s in her first term representing Nevada and is one of the most vulnerable Democrats running for re-election. 

Their race in battleground Nevada, a state President Joe Biden won in 2020, could decide which party controls the Senate for the latter half of his term. 

But before Laxalt took the stage, supporters who filed into Stoney’s Rockin Country bar erupted in cheers to hear Gabbard speak.

The love for the ex-Democrat was palpable, despite her only recently turning her back on the left.

Two rally attendees told DailyMail.com that they’d like to see her on a 2024 presidential ticket. 

Tulsi Gabbard got a warm welcome in Las Vegas, Nevada where she campaigned for Senate candidate Adam Laxalt

Since leaving the Democratic Party weeks ago, the former Hawaii congresswoman has been busy campaigning for Republican midterm candidates

‘She’s got a great background,’ said Debra Martin, 65, a Nevada resident who works in ‘material management.’ 

Martin said she and her husband would like to see Gabbard run for the White House.

‘I think she has good values, and I think she will speak the truth. And she will not just stand there and be a puppet, you know, for all the nonsense and the [Democrat] spending,’ Martin said.

Another attendee, who recently moved to Nevada from Illinois for a teaching job, told DailyMail.com he’d like to see Gabbard team up with Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

‘I have a crazy, crazy theory that I want a DeSantis/Gabbard ticket in 2024,’ said Josh Bender, 22.

‘I think they’d be the best president or vice president we have seen in a while.’

Gabbard said of Democrats on stage, ‘They’re taking away the rights and opportunities of women and girls across this country. They are erasing us, as women, as an entire category.

She said her old party is ‘denying the reality of objective truth.’

The rally for the tight, high-stakes Nevada Senate race was held at Stoney’s Rockin Country bar

Laxalt stopped to take photos with attendees after his speech closing out the rally

‘Because if they refuse to recognize the objective truth that there are biological differences between men and women, therefore, there is no such thing as truth,’ Gabbard said.

Her abrupt about-face from Democratic Party politics has raised eyebrows, particularly over her decision to campaign with Trump-aligned Republicans. 

Gabbard had previously been the national party’s vice chair and a surrogate for Bernie Sanders. When she dropped out of the 2020 presidential race, she endorsed Joe Biden.

She broached those questions head-on on Friday at the top of her speech.

Gabbard recounted a conversation with a reporter earlier in the day who apparently asked why she was choosing to back ‘conservative Republicans.’

‘This only doesn’t make sense if you’re focusing on all the wrong things…so many others are focused on the superficial, all these labels that they use to divide us because they want us to forget who we really are,’ she said.

‘They want us to forget that we are proud Americans love this great country to defend our Constitution and our freedoms, because the more they can distract us to turn us one against the other, the greater their power becomes.’

She added later in the speech: ‘How could I allow myself to be associated with a party that hates freedom?’

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., center, casts her vote at a polling place on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, in Las Vegas. She’s regarded as one of the most vulnerable Democrats of the 2022 election cycle

Both Laxalt and Gabbard dodged DailyMail.com’s requests for interviews.

Laxalt’s press secretary told DailyMail.com that the GOP hopeful would not be holding a media availability, but then backtracked to say he would not have any ‘more’ media availabilities after being asked why Laxalt apparently only spoke with Fox News.

Asked about the circumstances of that interview, Laxalt’s aide shot back, ‘How is that relevant?’ 

During his speech, Laxalt sought to tie Cortez Masto, a relatively low-profile lawmaker, to Biden’s national agenda. He called her a ‘reliable’ vote for the president and pointed out her record of overwhelming support for his legislative goals.

He also went after Democrats as a whole for their focus on abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade – turning an issue that Republicans have largely shied away from into a criticism of the left.

‘They want to make campaigns about abortion, or all these other issues that are not the top issues for voters,’ Laxalt said.

‘They tried for five months to make this election about anything but issues that voters really care about.’

While abortion rights do remain a top issue for 2022 voters, a majority of recent polls show that crime and the economy are consistently top of mind for voters – both issues that Republicans have had a messaging edge on.

One rally attendee, who only gave his name as Brock, told DailyMail.com that inflation was his number one motivator to vote for Laxalt.

‘It’s killing not only me, not just my business, but my employees,’ said Brock, 45.

‘I own pickup and delivery routes – I own a bunch of, like, FedEx routes. So I’m a sub-contractor. And it’s just destroyed it.’

He added, ‘Diesel prices have destroyed me.’