Tulsi Gabbard: 'You See The Final Expression Of Cancel Culture In Islamist Terrorist Groups Like ISIS, Al-Qaeda’

[Ubiquitous]

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) compared those who engage in “cancel
culture” to Islamist terrorists during an interview this week on Fox
News, saying that they are similar in terms of wanting to ban ideas
that are a threat to them.

“When you look at the foundation of our democracy, it is based on this
ideal, this principle of freedom, freedom of speech, freedom for every
single one of us to be able to share our ideas and debate them, to
argue them, to agree or to disagree, to pick and choose in this
marketplace of ideas, those that we deem to be right or wrong to be
superior or inferior and even for those ideas that may be misleading or
dangerous, that in this free marketplace, we have the right to then
defeat those ideas with with superior ones,” Gabbard said. “Cancel
culture is the opposite of this, it is exactly the opposite of this
foundational principle of our democracy. It means that in a cancel
culture, you have some people who believe that they are special, that
they are superior, that they have the power to be able to shut down
those who have ideas and views that are different, who may follow a
path that they deem to be the wrong path and will therefore say, ‘No,
we’re going to place obstacles in front of you, we’re going to silence
certain voices, so that only those who agree with us and the path that
we deem to be right as the one that is before you to choose.'”

“And the issue with this, there’s a few issues with it, the main issue
with this is when you look at our rights and freedoms, and our ability
to debate them, and respectfully come out the other end agreeing or
disagreeing, as you and I have over the years, it’s based on the fact
that we are all children of God. And recognizing that, we then treat
each other with respect and respect this freedom that we have,” she
continued. “So, let’s look down the path and say, ‘Okay, well, where
does this cancel culture lead us?’ You see the final expression of
cancel culture in Islamist terrorist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda who
basically go and behead those who … they deem to be infidels or
heretics in order to silence them in order to protect others from being
misled by those heretical ideas and in the eyes of an ISIS or Al
Qaeda.”

“And so when we look at cancel culture here at home, we see those
efforts to cancel or silence those that … they don’t want the people to
hear from, those who may offer a different idea than the one that those
in power want people to see or to hear, or to be exposed to,” she
concluded. “And so this is, when we look at the foundations of our
democracy, this is the danger of where this path leads us. Unless we as
individuals stand up against it.”

WATCH:
https://youtu.be/rDx-nzxGjTI

TRANSCRIPT:

TREY GOWDY, FOX NEWS HOST: Joining me now, former Congresswoman from
the great state of Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard. Hey, Tulsi, how are you?

REP. TULSI GABBARD (D-HI): Aloha, my friend, it’s good to talk to you
as always.

GOWDY: Likewise, alright, I used to turn to you when we were serving
together for guidance. Tell me what the cancel culture is and why we
should be concerned with it.

GABBARD: Well, you rightly started this conversation talking about
about freedom. When you look at the foundation of our democracy, it is
based on this ideal, this principle of freedom. Freedom of speech,
freedom for every single one of us to be able to share our ideas and
debate them, to argue them, to agree or to disagree, to pick and choose
in this marketplace of ideas, those that we deem to be right or wrong
to be superior or inferior and even for those ideas that may be
misleading or dangerous, that in this free marketplace, we have the
right to then defeat those ideas with with superior ones. And others
have the freedom to choose, choose what they want to believe or not to
believe or what they want to adhere to. So, when you look at this
question, what is cancel culture? Cancel culture is the opposite of
this, it is exactly the opposite of this foundational principle of our
democracy. It means that in a cancel culture, you have some people who
believe that they are special, that they are superior, that they have
the power to be able to shut down those who have ideas and views that
are different, who may follow a path that they deem to be the wrong
path and will therefore say, ‘No, we’re going to place obstacles in
front of you, we’re going to silence certain voices, so that only those
who agree with us and the path that we deem to be right as the one that
is before you to choose.’

And the issue with this there, there’s a few issues with it, the main
issue with this is when you look at our rights and freedoms, and our
ability to debate them, and respectfully come out the other end
agreeing or disagreeing — as you and I have over the years — it’s based
on the fact that we are all children of God, and recognizing that, we
then treat each other with respect and respect this freedom that we
have. So, let’s look down the path and say, ‘Okay, well, where does
this cancel culture lead us?’ You see the final expression of cancel
culture in Islamist terrorist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda who
basically go and behead those who … they deem to be infidels or
heretics in order to silence them in order to protect others from being
misled by those heretical ideas in the eyes of an ISIS or Al Qaeda.

And so when we look at cancel culture here at home, we see those
efforts to cancel or silence those that … they don’t want the people to
hear from, those who may offer a different idea than the one that those
in power want people to see or to hear, or to be exposed to. And so
this is, when we look at the foundations of our democracy, this is the
danger of where this path leads us. Unless we as individuals stand up
against it. And that’s the final point I want to make on this is, what
can we do? Because I get asked this a lot. What can we do to stand up
against this cancel culture, this fear mongering, this bullying, that
if you don’t adhere to this path that those in power says the right
one, then you’re at risk of losing your job, you are at risk of losing
family or friends or being unpopular, losing likes on social media.
This requires us to ask the question of ourselves, who are we trying to
please? And this is something for me at a really young age, I
recognized that life is short. Death can come at any time and I was
happiest, and am happiest, when trying to live my life to be pleasing
to God, to my best friend. And so as I’ve gone through my life, and
especially in politics, the media is coming at you with attacks,
political opponents, social media. I have always found that peace and
that strength in going with it and knowing that God has unconditional
love for all of us.

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Trump won.