Gabbard warns that DNC debate qualifications could make voters think ‘the fix is already in’
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, who didn't qualify for Thursday night's presidential primary debate, says the Democratic National Committee’s qualification system could be sowing distrust among voters.
Gabbard also called the debates “kind of a charade,” for their lack of substance.
TULSI GABBARD SAYS TRUMP IMPEACHMENT WOULD 'TEAR COUNTRY APART'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“What’s clear is that this system lacks transparency,” Gabbard told Dave Rubin on The Rubin Report, adding that this is problematic because “it creates a lack of trust in Democratic voters that the DNC is actually working for their interest.”
Gabbard has called out the DNC for its debate qualification standards before. Candidates must meet donation requirements as well as receive support from at least 2 percent of participants in four polls recognized by the committee. Gabbard accused the DNC of being unfair in deciding which polls qualify, and blamed this for her exclusion from Thursday's event in Houston.
She voiced concern that the DNC’s lack of transparency when it comes to how they determine the qualification system could discourage voters from even taking part in primary races.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}KNIVES OUT AS DEMS GATHER FOR THIRD DEBATE
“When you’ve got lack of trust, then you’ve got people who wonder whether they should even be involved at all, whether or not they should show up to the caucuses and the primaries if the fix is already in.”
Gabbard also lamented the nature of the debates and the focus on which candidates come up with entertaining quips, rather than on in-depth discussions of issues that could be informative for viewers. This, though Gabbard herself gaining attention from a viral moment in the second debate round, when she blasted Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., for her record as a prosecutor.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“These debates end up being kind of a charade about providing a transparent process for voters to become educated, but none of that’s actually happening,” she said.
Gabbard appears to be having better luck in potentially qualifying for October’s debate. She has already met the donor requirement and has met the necessary threshold in two out of four polls so far.