Former Democrats echo Tulsi Gabbard on why they left the party: 'They shut down' opposing views
3 ex-Democrats explain why they stand behind Gabbard on 'Fox & Friends First'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard joined the Democratic Party exodus, emboldening the voices of other former Democrats Jim Neil, Beth Ann Rosica and Rosa Arellano, who urged others to walk away on Wednesday's"Fox & Friends First."
"You've got to understand Tulsi's background. She served our country in the military, she served our country as a congresswoman," Neil told host Todd Piro.
"The party has left her as it has left me… I am proud to stand with her."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TULSI GABBARD TELLS TUCKER CARLSON WHY SHE LEFT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Tulsi Gabbard, former Representative from Hawaii, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, U.S., on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Neil described Gabbard as a "leader" and a "warrior" for taking a stand against the party.
Rosica, who left the Democratic Party three months into the COVID lockdowns in 2020, applauded Gabbard's interview with Fox News' Tucker Carlson in which she slammed cancel culture.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"That is exactly what I experienced, that cancel culture [after leaving the Democratic Party]," she said.
LEFT AND RIGHT REACT TO TULSI GABBARD'S SCATHING EXIT OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
"I reached out to every elected Democrat that I had voted for to try to help get schools open and nobody wanted to listen."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She added that Democrats seek to shut down anyone who speaks contrary to their narratives.
For Arellano, a retired Customs and Border Protection officer and South Texas resident, the border crisis influenced her decision.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I personally walked away because I saw the writing on the wall back in 2016. Now, we've reached a point where these folks are reading or seeing the writing on the wall, they're smelling it," she told Piro.
"A lot of Latinos are going to not only walk away, but run away from the Democratic Party," she said of the crisis.
Gabbard announced her leave from the party Tuesday, denouncing it an "elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report