Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, said the committee disinvited her from Tuesday night's first Democratic debate after she appeared on TV calling for more debates.
Her chief of staff received the message last Tuesday from the chief of staff to the DNC Chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Gabbard told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Monday.
"The prevailing message of that was that because I continued to call for more debates, that I should not go to the debate in Las Vegas," the Hawaii congresswoman told Blitzer. "The issue here is not about me saying, 'Boo hoo, I'm going to miss the party.' The issue here is one of democracy and freedom of speech."
The day before, Gabbard had appeared on MSNBC and said the DNC should hold more debates than the current six that are officially sanctioned, a sentiment strongly echoed by two Democratic presidential candidates, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, as well as thousands of Democratic and independent voters.
O'Malley and Sanders's campaigns have repeatedly called for more debates, and both candidates have said they believe Wasserman Schultz is rigging the primary process in favor of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. They contend that, by limiting the number of debates, Clinton is less likely to be exposed to tough questions that could derail her campaign. But Wasserman Schultz has refused to hold more debates. And thanks to an unprecedented rule, candidates are practically banned from participating in debates not sanctioned by the DNC, as HNGN previously reported.
An anonymous DNC spokeswoman said that Gabbard was not actually uninvited, but that Wasserman Schultz's aide expressed a desire to focus on the candidates as the debate approached, rather on a "distraction," according to The New York Times. If Gabbard could not do that, the aide suggested she should consider staying home from the debate.
"The focus of the debate in Nevada as well as the other debates and forums in the coming weeks should be on the candidates who will take the stage, and their vision to move America forward," DNC press secretary Holly Shulman said in a statement to CNN. "All that was asked of Ms. Gabbard's staff was to prioritize our candidates and this important opportunity they have to introduce themselves to the American people. The Democratic Party is a big tent party and we embrace the diversity of opinions and ideas that come from our members."
However, seeing that at least two Democratic candidates have vocally expressed their desire for more debates, it appears as if Gabbard is in fact focusing on the candidates' wishes.
