Tulsi Gabbard Opens Up About Her Mother at Moms for Liberty Summit

[Applause] please welcome to the stage congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi [Applause] gabard good morning aloha aloha it is so great to be here with you and on the stage with these three badass ladies you I was thinking this morning about how incredible it is and I'm grateful that I'm sure there are many of you who I've met in different parts of the country I was telling Tiffany this morning uh Wherever I Go o are there is a moms for Liberty Group or a whole tribe in the room sounding off loud and proud and it's so incredible because this is where change happens I started thinking about my mom she was the first person in our family who ran for office she is like the OG mom for Liberty she homeschooled my parents homeschooled all five of us kids at home growing up in Hawaii and what she saw in our Public Schools uh back in 200000 was the beginning of what is now happening all across the country in broad daylight back then she saw how wrong it was that in public schools across the state of Hawaii they wanted to put out surveys to kids in grade school first second third grade about what their sexuality is she raised us not to be complainers but to be problem solvers and she led by example so she stepped up to run for Board of Education in Hawaii we have one Statewide Board of Education and so it was a Statewide race and a Statewide campaign she's a school teacher by trade training an entrepreneur at heart and she went out there and started doing the Grassroots work that so many of you are doing across the country and like you have heard in each of these testimonies on the stage and like I know each of you have your own testimonies she was excoriated she was attacked I remember I was a teenager at the time we were standing with her in Hawaii when you run for office you've got a sign with your name on it and you wave at the traffic as people are driving by and so our family was out there of course supporting my mom in doing so and there were counter Carol gabard protesters across the street yelling all kinds of slurs and names at her and once we were all about to pack up Us and Them when the traffic had died down they crossed the street over to where we were and one of them looked at me spat at my feet and said look at you you princess of hate I mentioned that story because it's REM it is so important to remember as we Face these challenges as we Face these attacks as we Face these hardships both personal or professional as you have people literally spewing hatred in your face or online that we remember our purpose and why we are doing what we are doing and that there is no Force more powerful than love that is what motivates us it is love for our kids it is our love and appreciation for and celebration of Liberty of what our country has been founded upon that we can gather in rooms like this that we can go online that we can and should be able to have this vibrant open uh discussion and Marketplace of ideas that you as a parent might make decisions for your child that's different from another person this is America the fact that we have people in the most powerful positions in our government who are everyday taking steps to erode that freedom both nationally at a Statewide level and locally violates the core fundamental principles of who we are as a country and who we are as Americans [Applause] and that to me that is what is on the line in this election specifically as we head into these final I think it's 6768 days before November 5th people are going to start voting here in just a few weeks in a lot of states with early voting the message I'm carrying across the country is that this is not about left versus right or democrat versus Republican this is not about where you stand on healthc care or where you stand on you know how do we solve the homeless challenges in our country there is something that is far greater at stake that we have to remain focused on just as our Founders did when they wrote those founding documents they had Fierce and public debates and disagreements on a whole bunch of things they weren't afraid to hide it but they came together around the core fundamental principles that Define who we are and what makes this country the greatest country in the world and those are the principles of freedom and liberty this is our opportunity and this is why I'm hopeful in spite of all of the forces of darkness and evil that surround us the reason why they are escalating their tactics is because they're terrified of [Applause] us and so for all the attacks that moms for Liberty gets and I read about a lot of them they show up in the headlines and I laugh a little bit when I see them on the news because I know you guys and the way they paint you it's like oh my gosh but take that as a badge of honor and a pat on the back cuz that means you are scaring them and I encourage you to do what my parents have done my dad's a state senator in Hawaii right now and what they have showed me through their example is that in the face of hatred and darkness be strong wear that armor of love and know that they are weak because they are driven by fear love is the most powerful thing love is what drives a soldier to go and lay his or her life down in war to defend our freedom love is what drives a fireman to go and run into a burning building to save someone's life knowing that they may have to give up theirs love is what would drive a parent to go and grab their kid out of the middle of the street knowing that they may be hit by a car and if their child may live love is the most powerful force that will allow us to Prevail in this fight for freedom and love is what has the power to welcome more people into this cause of Freedom thank you very much everybody I'm so happy to be here with you today