Former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard was praised by conservatives and Republicans Tuesday for publicly quitting the party — while the left scrambled to disavow her.
Gabbard’s morning video announcement quickly made her the top trending topic on Twitter — with desperate Dems also pushing “Bye Felicia” in the top 10.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich insisted that the revelation by the former congresswoman from Hawaii reflected “a huge drift towards the Republican Party” as liberals and moderates were “driven away by the weirder policies of the Democratic Party.”
“Tulsi is somebody who has always spoken her own mind — she’s always been sort of an independent maverick,” Gingrich told Fox News soon after Gabbard posted her now-viral exit message.
“I think when she ran for president [in 2020], she realized how really isolated she was from the great majority of the Democratic Party, which is now, frankly, a pretty weird party,” Gingrich added.
Former “The View” co-host Meghan McCain was also one of the first to offer “congratulations” and support to Gabbard.
“There are so few free thinkers and independents left in this world and you are one of them,” tweeted the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain.
“We are in your corner,” she told Gabbard. “Onward and upward!”
Gabbard, 41, was also supported by others who have quit the Democratic Party — as well as those suggesting they may want to.
“I left in 2020. Smart move,” civil rights attorney and Fox News contributor Leo Terrell told Gabbard, tagging her on Truth Social, where she also shared her public exit.
Gabbard’s message — which blasted the Dems as being “under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness” — was backed by other frustrated members of her former party.
“This is the logical conclusion for so many of us,” tweeted Maud Maron, a former Legal Aid lawyer who unsuccessfully ran in this year’s 10th District Democratic primary.
“Thank you for saying it so clearly @TulsiGabbard,” added Maron, who previously complained about being “canceled” by local party members for opposing transgender females competing in women’s sporting events.
“[A]t one point in history the Democrat Party was the Party of the Grand Wizard / Ku Klux Klan! It takes People of good will to make changes!” tweeted New York gubernatorial write-in candidate Racquel McPherson.
“Be the change you want!” she added, tagging Gabbard.
Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) Foundation Senior Fellow Mercedes Schlapp called Gabbard “a common sense and courageous leader.”
“More democrats are waking up and realizing that their party has abandoned American principles and are more focused on bullying Americans with their unpopular woke agenda,” she wrote.
Commentator Dave Rubin praised Gabbard’s message for catching “the sentiment so many sane liberals and centrists.”
“Now watch in real time as media and Dems try to destroy her,” the Rubin Report host wrote.
Many on the left rushed to suggest that Gabbard’s fiery exit was a good thing for the party, with many calling her a DINO, for Democrat in name only.
“Wait, Tulsi Gabbard was a Democrat?” Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta tweeted sarcastically.
Journalist and Army veteran Jillian Dale replied to Gabbard’s video by writing: “Get real. You were never a Democrat. Don’t blame Democrats for your identity crisis and idiocy.”
Poet and Black Lives Matter supporter Samia Ali Salama reacted to Gabbard’s news with a “THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.”
“Fake Democrat, Tulsi Gabbard, is finally leaving the party that she only belonged to ON PAPER. Goodbye and good riddance to an enemy within!” she wrote.
“Good riddance!” insisted Democratic fundraiser Jon Cooper. ” Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out, Tulsi.”
Other Dems went further, with New Jersey-based band The USA Singers calling Gabbard “a liar, a gaslighter, a propagandist, a failure, & a loser” — and even “a filthy traitor.”
Before Tuesday’s announcement, Gabbard had repeatedly criticized her former party, and even appeared on stage at CPAC.
However, she did not spell out her immediate plans and whether they included formally switching parties.
The Democratic Party tweeted in celebration of “National Coming Out Day” early Tuesday, but made no mention on social media of Gabbard’s announcement. The Democratic National Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.