Former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard now a Fox News pundit

ABC

Former Hawaii Congressmember Tulsi Gabbard is making new friends on the right.

The transformation of Tulsi Gabbard, from a former rising star in the Democratic Party and Bernie Sanders acolyte to spokesperson for the extreme right, is almost complete after signing a deal with Fox News. All that's left is for her to declare an intention to run for President as a Republican.

The Samoan American, who ran for President under the Democratic banner in 2020, signed a deal with Fox News to become a contributor on the Rupert Murdoch network.

A spokesperson for Fox confirmed Gabbard’s hiring on Tuesday, Nov. 15,

Gabbard has emerged as a leading critic of liberals since, campaigning with a number of Trump-backed Republicans during the recent midterm elections cycle.

Last month, she announced that she was leaving the Democratic Party.

"I can no longer remain in today's Democratic party," she said on her podcast. "It's now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers, driven by cowardly wokeness..."

Gabbard accused the Democrats of "stoking anti-white racism," being contemptuous toward religion and police and driving the country closer to nuclear war.

In 2012, Gabbard became the first Hindu elected to Congress. She joined then-Rep. Tammy Duckworth as the only two women combat veterans in Congress.

She began building a national profile during the 2016 election, when she demonstrated her independent spirit when she resigned from her post as vice chairperson of the Democratic National Committee to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for president.

In 2020, she decided to run to be the Presidential nominee for the Democrats, abandoning a re-election campaign for her House seat. She left the Presidential campaign in March 2020 and endorsed Joe Biden.

During the midterm campaigns, she endorsed and campaigned for several Republican candidates, including election denier Arizona's gubernatorial candidate Keri Lake.

Even before she left the Democrats, Gabbard has made regular appearances on the Fox network over the last several months and on Monday served as a guest host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” the channel’s top-rated prime-time program.

Her name has even popped up from GOP insiders as a possible candidate for President or Vice President for the Republican Party, even though she has not yet officially joined the GOP. 

Like Donald Trump, she has expressed her admiration for Russia's Vladimir Putin and appears to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which aligns with some Republicans' wish to reduce funding and weapon sales to Ukraine.

As if the prove her departure from the Democrats was genuine, Gabbard went on to endorse and campaign for 13 Republicans for the Midterms. Ten of them lost.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Ex-Hawaii Congress Representative Tulsi Gabbard leaves the Democrats

Former Congressmember Tulsi Gabbard launches a new podcast.

To no one's surprise, Tulsi Gabbard made it official Tuesday when she announced that she is leaving the Democratic Party.

The former Congressional Representative from Hawaii has announced that she is leaving the Democrats, calling it an “elitist cabal of warmongers”, and inviting her “common sense independent minded” Democrats to join her. Despite leaving the party, she left her future political affiliation up in the air.

Gabbard, who ran for United States President in 2019, said in a video published on Twitter on Tuesday said that the Democratic Party is driven by “cowardly wokeness.”

A frequent critic of the Biden administration, Gabbard's announcement was not a complete surprise. Since Biden took office, the Samoan American's criticism more and more began to echo the rhetoric coming from the conservative extremists who have taken over the GOP.

Gabbard's tweet said: "I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms, are hostile to people of faith & spirituality, demonize the police & protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans, believe in open borders, weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents, and above all, dragging us ever closer to nuclear war."

Gabbard’s announcement comes as she also kicks off a new podcast this week, “The Tulsi Gabbard Show.”

Once seen as a rising political star, Gabbard has gained a reputation as a wild card within Democratic circles, often questioning Democratic positions. She also faced criticisms earlier this year from local Democrats who voted to condemn her “for participating in an event that raised funds that will harm Democrats across the country” after she spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Sitcom 'Young Rock' based on Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, debuts Tuesday

 

Every legend has a beginning. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars in Young Rock, a larger-than-life family comedy based on outrageous stories of the superstar's youth. 

This coming-of-age journey highlights the unforgettable moments and incredible relationships thrugh three stages of his life, from pre-adolecense, to teenager to young adult starting out on a career.

What the journey that took Dwayne from ordinary kid to extraordinary superstar – revealing he’s more like us than we know.

Co-created by Nahnatchka Khan and Dwayne Johnson, the series will be executive produced by Khan and Jeff Chiang, the team that brought us Fresh Off the Boat, another coming-of-age sitcom.  

Young Rock is the third situation comedy depicting the coming-of-age of AAPI youngsters. Besides Fresh Off the Boat, which ended after seven seasons, Netflix's Never Have I Ever is about an Indian American young woman and based on Mindy Kaling's teen years.

​Khan and Chiang co-wrote the pilot. Johnson will appear in each episode, and his formative years will be the series' focus and inspiration. The series premieres Tuesday, Feb. 16, 8 p.m. on NBC.

Three different Polynesian actors will portray Johnson in flashbacks in three different stages of his life: Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant and Uli Latukefu.

As co-writer and producer of the show, it has allowed Johnson to reflect on his past.  He’s come to realize the challenges provided the opportunity for real growth.

“It became an anchoring factor in my struggle and my determination to, quite frankly, not be a victim when, again, we were evicted (from housing) when I was 13 or 14,” he said. 

As he worked with Khan to find the right approach to the show, “I did know in my heart the most important thing was to be authentic and to be OK with ripping some stories open and ripping some past open.”

Khan said working Johnson has been easy because the star wasn't afraid to let his life be scrutinized. 

“He really wanted to go there and show the struggle, that it hasn’t been a straight line to the top for him,” Khan told the Associated Press. “He’s been knocked down a lot and he’s had to pivot off what he thought was his dream and find a new dream, a new path. Being able to explore those kinds of moments in a comedy are really important.”

Thanksgiving Day Parade floats The Rock's balloon into history

For those of you who didn't get up early enough on Thanksgiving Day to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, you missed the first Samoan American balloon in the annual event ushering in the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season.

The balloon advertised Young Rock, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's upcoming TV series on NBC set to debut in February next year.

The float features everything including Johnson's now-iconic haircut, his chain necklace and the fanny pack he can be seen wearing in a photo loved by his legions of fans.

The upcoming autobiographical series will -- as its name suggests -- tell the story of Johnson during his childhood years. The sitcom stars Bradley Constant and Uli Latukefu, who will play the 15-year-old Johnson, while Latukefu will portray him as a young adult.

Before taping began, Johnson, a prolific social media star, posted: "A comedy series about my wild and often unbelievable childhood and crazy teen years," he continued. "Before you understand where I’m comin’ from, you gotta understand where I came from. I’ve never done anything like this before. This one’s special and I think you’re gonna like it. Life’s unpredictable journey... Let’s shoot."

Johnson, who was born in Hayward, Calif. spent his teenage years in Hawaii. He is of Samoan and Black heritage.

Johnson, one of the highest paid A-listers, is the producer of the NBC series along with Nahnatchka Khan, who turned Fresh Off the Boat into a hit.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and his family recover from COVID-19

Recovered from the coronavirus: Dwayne Johnson, his wife Lauren and one of their daughters.

Big, muscular Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson admits that his fight against the coronavirus was one of the most difficult challenges in his life.

The popular actor said although he's won a fight against Covid-19, the fight against the virus was as difficult, even for a man of his physical stature, a former professional wrestler and football player.

Besides himself, his wife and his two daughers, ages 4 and 2, contracted the coronavirus also. He reports that everyone in his family are getting better.

"I can tell you that this has been one of the most challenging and difficult things we have ever had to endure as a family," said the Samoan American action star in an Instagram posting. "And for me personally, too, as well, and I've gone through some doozies in the past."

“We’re all counting our blessings because we’re well aware that it isn’t always the case that you get on the other end of COVID-19 stronger and healthier," Johnson said. "...Some of my best friends lost their parents, their loved ones, to this virus that is so incredibly relentless and unforgiving, and it is insidious.”

"Having your friends over, having your family members over, your loved ones, of course, you want that because you want that connection and you want to be with the people who you love and care about" and have a good time with, he said. "My takeaway here isn’t necessarily keep them away, I’m not saying that, but what I am saying now is apply an even greater discipline to having people over to your house."

He suspects his family caught the virus from friends who were asymptomatic -- that is they carried the virus without showing any symptoms.

He told his legions of fans, "Wear your mask. It is a fact, and it is the right thing to do, and it's the responsible thing to do."

Samoan American QB drafted No. 5 by NFL's Dolphins

Tua Tagovailoa celebrates his Samoan heritage after an Alabama win.

Samoan American Tua Tagovailoa should have been the No. 1 pick in the National Football League's draft. Instead, the Miami Dolphins used their first round pick him as the No. 5 overall pick.

An injury riddled year -- two ankle surgeries and a dislocated hip -- cost the U. of Alabama quarterback the top spot.

The medical concerns are valid, and the reality is he will be walking onto a team with a questionable offensive line.

“I tell you what, it’s been a dream. It’s been a dream to have an opportunity like this,” Tagovailoa said on draft day.

RELATED: Samoan Americans chase the American Dream through football

Tagovailoa slipped into the spotlight in the national championship game two years ago. Trailing at the half, Alabama's coach put him and Tagovailoa was able to rally his team including a last-minute game-winning pass making him the first Samoan quarterback of a national champion team.

in 2018 he was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, college football's best player but lost out to Korean American quarterback Kyle Murray.

Tagovailoa went to Saint Louis School in Honolulu and went to one of the top football programs in the nation.

Tua Tagovailoa's parents and siblings moved to Alabama from Hawaii.

His family move with him.

It was a difficult decision, but Tua’s parents decided to move the family from Hawaii to be with Tua in Alabama. This also meant Tua’s younger brother would finish his high school football career in Alabama, and his sister would go to school there as well.

His brother wlll also play for Alabama as a quarterback.Entering the NFL, Tagovailoa  follows the footsteps of Marcus Mariota, another Hawaii quarterback, who succeeded at the Univeristy of Oregon who now plays for the Tennessee Titans.

“It’s not just big for me, it’s for my family as well," Tagovailoa said. "I just want to thank the fans for the love and support but I also want to thank you know owner Steven Ross, I want to thank Chris Greer and head coach, Coach Flores for giving me this opportunity to play for Miami.”

Tulsi Gabbard suspends her campaign for President

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

Tulsi Gabbard ends her campaign for President by endorsing Joe Biden

What is most surprising is how long Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, was able to campaign while other, better known and better funded rivals folded earlier.

Gabbard suspended her campaign for president Thursday.and surprisingly endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for President. It was expected that Gabbard who throw her support to Bernie Sanders, who she backed in 2016. 

"It's clear that Democratic primary voters have chosen, Vice President Joe Biden, to be the person who will take on President Trump in the general election," she said on a Twitter video.  

"Although I may not agree with the Vice President on every issue, I know that he has a good heart and is motivated by his love for our country and the American people," seh continued. "I'm confident that he will lead our country guided by the spirit of aloha — respect and compassion — and thus help heal the divisiveness that has been tearing our country apart.

Gabbard, 38, announced her White House bid in January of last year and immediately made history as the first Samoan American, first Hindu American and the first female combat veteran to run for president.

Her departure leave only Biden and Sanders working for the Democratic nomination, two of the oldest candidates out of a field of 24 and one of the most diverse field of candidates put up by any US political party.

Gabbard was also one of three Asian American & Pacific Islander candidates to campaign for President at the same time. She joined California Sen. Kamala Harris and entrepreneur Andrew Yang in the historic primary campaign trail.

In addition, with Harris, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, to become part of most women candidates to run for president.

In her announcement on Thursday, she noted she would continue her military service in the Hawaii National Guard.

She has seven months left in her last term in the House of Representatives. Earlier, she had announced that she would not run for her Congressional District 2 seat.

Gabbard's best moment during the primary campaigning was in the second debate when she basically eviscerated Harris' record as California's Attorney General and San Francisco's District Attorney, wounding Harris' campaign that the California senator was never able to recover from.

During the campaign she touted her foreign policy credentials as a military veteran, called for bringing the troops home from the Middle East and ending the United States' "regime-change" wars.

When she first ran for Congress in 2012, she was dubbed a "rising star" in the Democratic Party, received the endorsement of then-President Obama. 

Speculation then was that she would be a a good Presidential candidate in 2020 and was given a vice chairman position in the DNC, to boost her name recognition and give her more status within the party in preparation for a possible run for President.

Then came a series of political miscues that placed her as a Democratic outsider. The first was when she quit her DNC position in order to campaign for Bernie Sanders against Party favorite Hillary Clinton, a spat that continued into the 2019-2020 Presidential campaign when Clinton inferred that the Russians might be favoring Gabbard in order to have her run as a third-party candidate lessening the chances of a Democratic candidate.

Through her connections with the Hindu American community who gave her substantial financial support, she appears to support  Prime Minister Modi, whose conservative -- some say fascist -- policies run counter to the Democrats' more liberal and moderate wing.

Then, in December of last year,  her impeachment vote was a head-scratcher. Gabbard was the only Democrat to vote "present" while the rest of her party peers voted to impeach Trump.

Her endorsement Thursday of moderate Biden instead of the progressives' favorite Sanders might be an attempt to put herself in the Democrats' good graces for her political future. A run for Hawaii's Governorship or a campaign for Hawaii's other House seat against first-termer Ed Case is not out of the question.

TGIF Feature: The Rock is producing NBC series based on his youth

DWAYNE 'THE ROCK' JOHNSON

ASAM NEWS

Actor Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson may be a famous actor now, but his life as a kid included numerous arrests, moving to 13 different states and getting into multiple fights.

A new TV show is now in the works documenting that period in the superstar’s life.

NBC has ordered 11 episodes of The Young Rock, which will star The Rock himself, who will “appear in every episode,” according to Variety. He will also serve as an executive producer in the show chronicling his “formative years.”

Johnson details his chaotic, “colorful” life in a Twitter video announcing the series: getting arrested “almost every single week,” being raised by his “tough as nails” grandmother, dreaming of being a country music singer, “buying his first car from a crackhead for $70,” and thumbing his nose at authority.

Johnson tweeted: "The Forrest Gump-ian childhood I had growing up is coming to @nbc. Only my life included more arrests and kickin’ puberty’s ass when I turned 8 .
This is gonna be a fun show."

Jody Cwik, the football coach at Oakley, California's Freedom High School, was the one who got Johnson on the right path, helping him learn about “commitment, sacrifice, and teamwork,” Johnson told Morning Call.

Johnson, who is part Samoan and part African American and one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood, has appeared on TV before, starring in HBO’s Ballers and as a game show host in NBC’s The Titan Games. He’s also known for his action-movie roles in Moana, The Fast and the Furious and Hobbes and Shaw sagas, the reboot series of Jumanjii, and The Mummy Returns.

Fresh off the Boat‘s creator Nahnatchka Khan and co-executive producer Jeff Chiang wrote the pilot for the series, and will serve as the show’s executive producers, CBR reported. The new NBC series will be in a similar vein of Fresh off the Boat, which adapted chef Eddie Huang’s childhood into a family-friendly sitcom.

The Young Rock does not yet have a release date.

Tulsi Gabbard will skip the next Democratic debate even if she qualifies

SCREEN CAPTURE / ABC

Tulsi Gabbard criticizes the Democratic Party's criteria for the debates.

Even if Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-HI, gets the one more poll she needs to qualify for the December Democratic debate, she says she won't take part.

"For a number of reasons, I have decided not to attend the December 19th "debate" — regardless of whether or not there are qualifying polls," Gabbard tweeted. "I instead choose to spend that precious time directly meeting with and hearing from the people of New Hampshire and South Carolina."

She has been critical of the criteria put up by the Democratic National Committee that the candidates have to meet in order to participate in the series of debates. The debate on Dec. 19 will be the sixth time the qualifiers meet on stage.

So far, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and tech billionaire Tom Steyer have qualified for the next debate. The rest of the large field is left out in the cold.

“There’s been a lack of transparency in that whole process about which polls are selected, which aren’t, which they’re seeing as qualifying, which ones are actually polling,” Gabbard told Hill.TV as she struggled to meet the criteria in an earlier debate.

“Spending time with voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, they don’t take kindly to seeing how a few people in Washington, D.C. at the DNC are trying to be the gatekeepers,” she said.

She wasn't the only candidate questioning the hurdles set by the Democrats.

Sen. Cory Booker rebuked the DNC for letting “elites” and “money” decide which candidates gain the opportunity to occupy the debate stage. 

"I'm a little upset with the (Democratic National Committee) right now because they seem to be trying to make the decisions for you," Booker told a Sunday crowd gathered in a Dubuque bar.

Booker also made note that the New Hampshire Democratic Party voted last weekend to send the DNC a letter urging the party to reconsider the qualifying criteria for the debate to ensure greater diversity and give voters "the greatest opportunity" to hear from the candidates.

The fact that the candidates who have qualified for the December debate are all white sharpened the flaws of the DNC's attempt to winnow down the crowd of candidates that at one point numbered 24.

Booker, who is one of two African Americans running for president, pointed out that there are now more billionaires among the candidates than there are African Americans, after Sen. Kamala Harris, D-CA, dropped out of the race.

Booker and Gabbard, who is Samoan American, and the other candidates of color, Julian Castro and Andrew Yang have also not met the DNC criteria. Yang needs one more poll where he has garners 4% to qualify.

DNC spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa told the Washington Times that the party’s debate requirements were “inclusive." 

She asserted that historically, candidates who have polled lower than 4% in the primary season have never been selected as the Democratic presidential nominee. “While we are legally required to have objective criteria for each debate, our qualifying criteria has stayed extremely low throughout this entire process,” she said in an emailed statement. “We’ve never seen a political party take this many steps to be inclusive.”

However, "historically," there have never been this many candidates running for president, which greatly dissipates potential supporters and donors among the diverse presidential hopefuls representing a wide political spectrum.

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Report: Russian media, far and away, favors Tulsi Gabbard

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, running for the Democrat's nominee for President of the US, pooh-poohs accusations that she is a Russian asset, but there is no doubt that she is a favorite of Russian media.

According to a new report released last Nov. 12 by a research team at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, the Samoan American candidate is covered in a far more favorable light by Russian media than any other Democratic candidate.

The research team based their findings on an analysis of articles published in Russian Today and Sputnik News, funded by the Russian government and according to US intelligence sources played a role promoting Donald Trump in the 2016 election.

Gabbard's "anti-war stance as a military member and shaming of U.S. establishment leaders is a wonderful vehicle for the Kremlin to divide the political left and pit populists against the establishment," Clint Watts, a former FBI agent who led the research effort, told NBC News.

"RT and Sputnik content in total volume is exceptionally higher for Vice President Biden, more so than normal U.S. election coverage. … Russia often amplifies President Trump's disparagement of Biden, and this adds to the negative coverage overall," said Watts.

When Hillary Clinton was interviewed on Democratic strategist David Plouffe's podcast, she said that the Republicans were "grooming" a Democratic candidate to do a third-party run ala Julie Stein to take votes away from whoever the Democrats put up against Donald Trump.

Her remarks were initially taken out of context making it sound like the Russians were grooming a candidate and widely misquoted by Gabbard in her response. Gabbard strongly denounced Clinton's remarks implying that Hawaii's representative is a Russian asset

The graphic below pretty much sums up the FPRI report.

Tulsi Gabbard won't run for re-election for her House seat

SCREEN CAPTURE

Tulsi Gabbard sent this video to her followers explaining her decision to give up her House of Representatives seat.

Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard put all her eggs in one basket by declaring Thursday (Oct. 24) that she will not run for re-election for her House seat in order to concentrate on her campaign for president.

Via social media, the 38-year old Hawaii representative announced to her supporters that she will not be seeking reelection to her District 2 seat that she's held since 2013.

Gabbard, who represents Hawaii, made the announcement in a video and email to supporters. "I believe that I can best serve the people of Hawaii and our country as your president and commander-in-chief," Gabbard said in the video.

With Gabbard's decision, that opens the door for District 2 challenger Kai Kahele, a Democrat and a Hawaii state senator. “I wholly respect and appreciate Congresswoman Gabbard’s decision not to pursue re-election for her Congressional seat as she pursues the Presidency,' Kahele tweeted. "I wish her and her family the best going forward. I remain fully committed to my campaign to becomes Hawaii’s next Congressman.”

In the race for the White House, with 20 Democratic candidates still in the running, Gabbard remains near the bottom of the polls. The Hindu American's campaign has failed to gain traction so far.

It was expected that the Samoan American would drop out of the presidential contest and return to campaigning for her House seat. Her declaration to stay in seems to indicate that she will continue to campaign all the way to the Democratic convention in the summer of 2020.

Last week, Gabbard began sparring with Clinton after the Democrats' 2016 presidential nominee, suggested, without presenting any evidence, that the lawmaker was a Russian asset. Gabbard has denied the inference and has countered by calling Clinton the "queen of warmongers" and challenging her to enter the race.

The dispute with Clinton had the unexpected effect of apparently raising Gabbard's profile. Her campaign began raising funds from Clinton's accusation and her rating inched up in some polls.

"At this time when our country is so divided, and our world is moving ever closer to a nuclear holocaust; a time when we may be sucked into another even more disastrous war in the Middle East, and tensions with other nuclear powers are escalating, and with that, a new arms race and Cold War that can only end in nuclear catastrophe, I believe I can best serve the people of Hawaiʻi and our country as your President and Commander-in-Chief," said Gabbard in her statement.

"As President, I will immediately begin work to end the new Cold War and nuclear arms race, end our interventionist foreign policy of carrying out regime change wars, and redirect our precious resources towards serving the needs of the people here at home," she added.

"As such, I will not be seeking re-election to Congress in 2020, and humbly ask you for your support for my candidacy for President of the United States," concluded Gabbard.

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Tulsi Gabbard reconsiders boycott of next debate, she will join the debate

YOUTUBE

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard might not take part in Tuesday's debate.

Hours after Views From the Edge posted the original story about Tulsi Gabbard's consideration of boycotting Tuesday's (Oct. 15) debate among Democratic hopefuls running for President, Hawaii's congressswoman tweeted one line: "I will be attending the debate."

The original story and context follows:

* * *

It's not been a good week for Democratic candidate Tulsi Gabbard.

A New York Times article titled "What, Exactly, is Tulsi Gabbard Up To?" with the sub head reading "As she injects chaos into the 2020 Democratic primary by accusing her own party of 'rigging' the election, an array of alt-right internet stars, white nationalists and Russians have praised her" prompted the Hawaii congresswoman to seriously consider boycotting the next Democratic debate Tuesday (Oct. 15).

In a video released by her campaign, she castigated the Democratic Party and mainstream media like the NYTimes for "rigging the election" through its debate qualifications, making it difficult for candidates who are polling poorly, ie. Gabbard, to meet and to get their message across to the voters.

The NYTimes article implied that Gabbard might be being used Russian bots to attack some of the candidates who have polled stronger than the Hawaii congresswoman and her apparent appeal to right wing groups.

“She’s taken a series of policy steps which signal to the right that she has deep areas of alignment,” said the Times quoted Neera Tanden, a longtime policy adviser to Hillary Clinton who now leads the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

Of particular concern among some Democrats is her sharp attacks against Sen. Kamala Harris, who in the early going was considered one of the stronger opponents to Donald Trump because of her prosecutorial experience. In the second debate last summer, after Gabbard successfully criticized Harris' record as San Francisco's District Attorney and California's Attorney General, Harris popularity took a hit and still hasn't recovered.

Despite her aggressive campaign, Gabbard's appeal has barely moved the needle, hovering around the 2% mark in the major polls.

"There are so many of you who I've met in Iowa and New Hampshire who have expressed to me how frustrated you are that the DNC and corporate media are essentially trying to usurp your role as voters in choosing who our Democratic nominee will be," said Gabbard in the video.

"In this 2020 election, the DNC and corporate media are rigging the election again, but this time against the American people in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada," stated Gabbard.

"They are attempting to replace the roles of voters in the early states, using polling and other arbitrary methods which are not transparent or democratic, and holding so-called debates which are not debates at all but rather commercialized reality television meant to entertain, not inform or enlighten.

"In short, the DNC and corporate media are trying to hijack the entire election process.

Continuing, she said, "In order to bring attention to this serious threat to our democracy, and ensure your voice is heard, I am giving serious consideration to boycotting the next debate on October 15th. I will announce my decision within the next few days. With my deepest aloha, thank you all again for your support."

The 10 Democratic candidates from the September debate will be joined by Gabbard and tech billionaire Tom Steyer, who will be making his first appearance on the debate stage.

The debate is being moderated by both CNN and the New York Times, 8 p.m. Eastern. The specific moderators have yet to be named.

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'The Rock' solid as the highest paid actor

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Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson stars in 'Ballers' of HBO.

ASAM NEWS

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson comes out on top above five Avengers stars on the 2019 Forbes list of the world’s highest paid male actors, having earned $89.4 million in a single year, according to Forbes.
Two other Asian American and Pacific Islander stars also made the list: Jackie Chan and Indian Canadian actor Akshay Kumar earned $58 million and $65 million, respectively.

Here’s the Forbes official ranking:

1. Dwayne Johnson: $89.4 million2. Chris Hemsworth: $76.4 million3. Robert Downey Jr.: $66 million4. Akshay Kumar: $65 million5. Jackie Chan: $58 million6. Bradley Cooper: $57 million (tie)6. Adam Sandler: $57 million (tie)8. Chris Evans: $43.5 million9. Paul Rudd: $41 million10. Will Smith: $35 million

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, starring Samoan American Johnson and Jason Statham as its titular characters, came to theaters earlier this month and has grossed over $440 million worldwide so far, according to Box Office Mojo.

The 47-year-old star pulls far ahead of the others due to his endeavors outside of Hollywood as well, according to Closer Weekly. Johnson has a popular collaboration line with Under Armour, and his hit HBO comedy drama Ballers, for which he gets paid $700,000 an episode, is already coming out with its fifth and final season on Sunday, (August 25).

Johnson will be starring in Jumanji: The Next Level, which is set to release December 13 this year. It serves as the sequel to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which grossed over $962 million worldwide, the 49th highest-grossing film of all time. Catch the sequel’s trailer below.

Johnson definitely seems to be doing pretty well for himself, considering he also just married his longtime love Lauren Hashian in a Hawaii ceremony over the weekend.

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Tulsi Gabbard should move up after her debate perforance

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Rep. Tulsi Gabbard performed well in the first night of the Democratic debate.

ANALYSIS

Everytime Rep. Tulsi Gabbard answered a question during last night's Democratic debate, Day 1, she managed to reference her military experience.

She used the first debate of the campaign season as a means to introduce herself to the rest of the nation, who might not have heard or seen the congresswoman from Hawaii and she might have done well enough to give poll ratings a much-needed push

Until last night, Gabbard hasn't been able to make any headway in the campaign. In the field of 24 candidates, she barely made it into the top 20. For someone who has been in politics for 17 years, it was embarrassing that nonpolitician first-time candidate Andrew Yang was raising more money and polling better than her.

RELATED: High stakes fin debate or AAPI candidates

Gabbard's best moment was in an exchange with Rep. Tim Ryan.

Gabbard corrected the Ohio congressman when Ryan said the Taliban was behind the 9/11 attacks. “The Taliban was there long before we came in (Afghanistan) and they will be there long after we leave. We cannot keep U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan thinking that we’re going somehow squash this Taliban—” Gabbard said, before Ryan interrupted her.

“When (the U.S.) weren’t in there, (the Taliban) started flying planes into our buildings,” Ryan said. Gabbard’s response: “The Taliban didn’t attack us on 9/11, al Qaeda did. That’s why I and so many other people joined the military, to go after al Qaeda after 9/11.”

She concluded the spat:  “We have to bring our troops home from Afghanist

Her worst moment was her first answer to a question about equal pay for women. Gabbard didn't even try to answer the question. She went into her elevator speech telling the audience about her military service and what she would do as president, not mentioning the ERA or, for that matter, the Paycheck Fairness Act, which Gabbard just voted for in the House.

She concluded: “We have to bring our troops home from Afghanistan.”

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

The first night of the Democratic debate took place in Miami last night.

Her worse moment was her response to a question about how to pay women equal to men. Instead of answering the softball question, she dived into her elevator speech trying to introduce herself by reminding the audience of her military service and her platform. Not once did she mention the need to pass the ERA or the Paycheck Fairness Act, which she recently vote for.

Surprisingly, and in this case consider the source, the conservative Drudge Report political website posted a surprising instant poll showing that its visitors believed Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii was the overwhelming victor of the first Democratic presidential debate, polling at almost 35% with 12,314 votes.

Her closest competitor, according to Drudge, was Massachusetts' Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who was polling at just under 13.5% and 4,791 votes. Julián Castro of Texas and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey were polling the lowest with less than 5% each.

Google also tweeted the results of searches during and after the debate. We can only assume that the debate piqued peoples' interest and had them asking ,"Hmm, who is this Tulsi Gabbard?"

And then, there's this from Google indicating the interest in Gabbard was nationwide, except in the Deep South, Michigan, South Dakota and Oklahoma:

Other notes on the debate:

• Warren came in as the frontrunner and needed to show why she polls second to former Vice President Joe Biden. She held her own, giving the most substantive answers, especially on the economy, but she failed to distance herself from the lower tier candidates.

• Julián Castro, former HUD Secretary under Obama, proved to be aggressive and should improve his standings in the polls considering he was polling 1 percentage point. He saved his flagging campaign at least until the next debate.

• Beto O'Rourke didn't do well. His personal anecdotes didn't ring well in answering questions. He was also attacked by Castro on immigration. the fellow Texan was seeking a commitment to decriminalize crossing the border without documents but O'Rourke wouldn't bite. "Do your homework," Castro told O'Rourke, whose poll ratings have gone down every month.

• The debate almost went out of control when the moderators allowed the candidates to speak out of turn in response to other candidates' answers. The worst offender was New York Mayor DeBlasio, who (no offense) acted like an aggressive New Yorker.

• Speaking of interruptions. Every woman who has to attend business meetings will  recognize this one. Once the debaters realized they could speak out of turn, interrupting became more frequent. Curiously, none of the women, Warren, Gabbard or Sen. Amy Klobuchar, did any interrupting, choosing to raise their hands amidst the attention grabbing men.

Part 2 of the Democratic debates will be tonight (June 27) and feature the other two Asian American candidates, Sen. Kamala Harris and Andrew Yang. It could have more fireworks than last night with four of the top five candidates participating. Besides Harris, former Vice President, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mayor Pete Buttigeig. will be going at it with six other candidates.

The debate will air on NBC and Telemundo affiliates across the country, along with MSNBC on cable. They’ll be broadcast live from Miami and air which tonight at 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. EDT.

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