Last month, Tulsi Gabbard announced she was resigning from her role as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to support her husband who was diagnosed with “an extremely rare form of bone cancer.”
In her resignation letter, which she posted to X, Gabbard highlighted the “significant progress” made at ODNI “advancing unprecedented transparency and restore integrity to the intelligence community.” She said she would remain in her role until June 30 to ensure a “smooth and thorough transition.”
Fox News reported that Gabbard notified President Donald Trump during a May 22 meeting in the Oval Office, and he reacted to the news in a Truth Social post.
“Unfortunately, after having done a great job, Tulsi Gabbard will be leaving the Administration on June 30th,” Trump wrote, in part. “Her wonderful husband, Abraham, has been recently diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, and she, rightfully, wants to be with him, bringing him back to good health as they currently fight a tough battle together. I have no doubt he will soon be better than ever. Tulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her.”
At the time, the president said Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Aaron Lukas would serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence. On Tuesday, he announced Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chair of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, would take over the acting DNI role while keeping his other jobs.
Why Gabbard Is Out
Despite Gabbard and Trump’s accounts rumors swirled that the former Democrat congresswoman was forced out. During an interview on The Shawn Ryan Show released Monday, Megyn said her sources have indicated otherwise.
“Reuters is reporting that she was fired. Steve Bannon says she got fired. I have spoken to a source very close to her who says it’s not true,” Megyn told Ryan. “In fact, they tried to convince her to stay, and that she genuinely left because her husband has cancer, and they’re deeply in love, and she, well, let’s face it, government sucks.”
Megyn said government service is “terrible” and the Trump administration presents a unique set of challenges. “You do sit in a windowless room. It is a thankless job. You have only one master and it’s Trump, and he is very difficult,” she explained. “Portions of the public may love him, but his staffers really go through hell. He is relentless on them. And you don’t make a lot of money, on top of all that. Most of these people could be making a lot of dough out in the private sector.”
“So, it’s easy for me to believe that Tulsi, upon getting this terrible diagnosis for her family, said, ‘It’s time for me to leave… I gave a year of my life, and now I want to get back to me,'” she added. “But I don’t know.”
When Ryan noted Gabbard’s opposition to the Iran war and more interventionist foreign policy, Megyn said that likely played a role in her departure – but she doesn’t believe it caused it.
“The consequence of that was not her termination,” Megyn posited. “Again, I trust my source who said they tried to convince her to stay. I think the consequence of that was irrelevance in Trump world… The reports are that he has been far more focused on what Marco Rubio has to say – who is his National Security Adviser… not just Secretary of State – than on what Tulsi Gabbard has to say.”
Who’s Next?
Gabbard became the fourth person to depart Trump’s Cabinet after former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and former Attorney General Pam Bondi. Ryan asked Megyn who she believes could be next.
Her answer: Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. because she said the president is “dismantling the MAHA [Make America Healthy Again] agenda week by week.”
She called Kennedy a “true believer” and believes decisions like the controversial executive order to classify the herbicide glyphosate as critical to U.S. national security, the dismissal of Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, and the withdrawal of Casey Means’ nomination for Surgeon General signal a shift in the administration’s priorities.
Megyn said so-called “MAHA moms” went “ballistic” over the EO because it was “one of the top issues” they wanted addressed and the president’s decision amounts to “complete betrayal.” Makary, meanwhile, was reportedly pushed out because he pushed back on approving fruit-flavored vapes out of concerns they contribute to the youth vaping epidemic. All the while, Means saw her nomination killed by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who subsequently lost to a GOP primary challenger.
“[Casey] was one of the faces of MAHA. She actually is one of the reasons we have MAHA. She and her brother Calley [Means] wrote the book Good Energy and started a revolution,” Megyn explained. “We couldn’t get her? Surgeon general, I mean, it’s kind of important, but it’s not that huge. It’s kind of just a spokesperson… You need somebody who is a good talker and who is sensible enough to know what to say, what’s the message, what’s important. Nope. Couldn’t get her over the finish line because we didn’t fight for her.”
Ultimately, Megyn said MAHA supporters do not have much to show for their efforts to get Trump elected and get Kennedy into HHS. “The MAHA thing really did help get Trump elected,” she concluded. “I really thought we’d get more than just a couple of food dyes out of our food.”