LIVE With BOBBY and TULSI

Overcoming stage fright in Arizona in the name of democracy

As a disclaimer: The following recap was written three days ago, prior to the latest developments concerning RFK’s alleged involvement with Olivia Nuzzi. I'm sharing this chapter as it was originally written because it reflects my personal evolution on this journey. I will address the other news once I have more details.

“The conversation between Kennedy and Gabbard was moderated by Jessica Reed Kraus, a Substack writer who writes about the presidential race on her @houseinhabit social media accounts. She referred to the trio onstage as ‘three of your favorite disillusioned Democrats.’ All three discussed the paths they took from being Democrats to eventually supporting Trump.” — AZ Central

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It was a year ago that I found myself unexpectedly at Robert Kennedy Jr.'s house in Los Angeles — a story some of you might recall. My niece and I were on a mission to track down Woody Harrelson for an interview about his weed bar. After struggling with intermediaries who failed to connect us, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I was in hot pursuit of Woody when I received a call asking me to visit RFK Jr. at home to film an endorsement. I resisted, telling them that I knew very little about him and didn’t plan on endorsing anyone in this election anyway.

Nevertheless, we abandoned our search for Woody and headed to Brentwood. I ended up filming an introductory interview with him on his couch, in place of an endorsement. It was one of the most awkward experience of my life. I stumbled over every line, fumbled Kennedy’s name, and struggled to maintain my focus. At one point, someone remarked to Bobby’s godson David, the one who invited me there, “I thought you said she knew what she was doing?”

“She does know what she’s doing. She just doesn’t do it this way,” David replied in my defense.

It’s true. I’m always more comfortable behind the scenes surveying the scene as opposed to participating in the spotlight. Cameras tend to kill my confidence.

So, how did I end up moderating a town hall last Saturday in Arizona? The answer partly lies in my inability to refuse Tulsi Gabbard.

A week before the Arizona event, I caught up with her in her dressing room backstage at Tucker Carlson’s show. She was the featured guest that night. Down a long dark hall I found her in the greenroom trying to erase a light purple stain — left by a fresh lei someone gave her — from her white blazer. Her assistant was looking for a Tide pen. Instantly, I regretted not having one on me. These are the things women should carry.

We discussed upcoming events; our paths would be intertwining across the country in the coming weeks. I expressed concern about being positioned as a surrogate for the Trump campaign. I wanted to track the campaign but didn’t want to be cast as a MAGA cheerleader at upcoming rallies. Tulsi listened, agreeing that my impact was better built for intimate coverage. More than anyone, she seemed to understand the power of breaking that fourth wall, how giving people a glimpse into the inner workings of a campaign in motion cemented unique trust and intrigue. By dropping polished production and replacing it with a raw vantage point, it connected the public to each of these characters in ways other mediums have failed to replicate.

While I didn’t want to be a vocal surrogate for the campaign, when the invitation for the town hall was proposed — and I suggested a list of other people I thought would be a better fit — it was Tulsi who encouraged me to reconsider. She saw the role of moderator as an authentic extension of what I’m already doing with online musings. It was not an endorsement, but a conversation.

With that new lens in mind, I confirmed Arizona, but had no time to prepare. In the two days I was home, between Philadelphia for the debate and Arizona for the town hall, I focused all my energy on celebrating significant family milestones: Leon turning 16 and Arlo’s last days at home before his big move to NYC. Our home was flooded with friends. Anytime I thought about being on stage, I was struck with a wave of nausea, so I simply didn’t. Instead, I made a conscious effort to soak up the mundane things around me, things I haven’t done in months, pulling weeds from potted plants, cleaning out and restocking the rabbit’s cage, driving my youngest son to climb a certain tree at the park at dusk.

At the church center in Arizona, I showed up without anything memorized. My questions were printed and glued to notecards; my introduction, pasted into a black folder. The lighting in our dressing room was dim — illuminated by one small lamp. Backstage, I watched a stylist try her best to convince Tulsi to go for a middle part. An hour earlier, she told me she wanted to see her hair parted down the center, straying from a typically stiffer structure. She thought it would be a fresh switch up. Tulsi was willing to try it, but preferred to do so in private, not on a public stage. The stylist complied, pulling the white streak to the forefront. She asked Tulsi when it started and how she responded to her hair turning white at such a young age. Tulsi told her it shocked her at first but it came to “mean something to her.”

The signature streak — a slice of platinum cutting through her dark hair—has weighted symbolism behind it. As an Iraq War veteran, Tulsi revealed recently that she doesn’t dye the gray streak because it serves as a “remembrance” of all the U.S. service members killed in the Iraq War.

“No, I’m not going to fix that gray strand. I don’t know what you mean by ‘fix.’ If you mean dye, no, I’m not going to dye it. I actually started going gray in that one spot during and after my first deployment to Iraq. So I keep it just as a remembrance of those we lost there and the cost of war and why we fight so hard for peace,” she said on an Instagram Live, in response to a user commenting on the gray streak.

Accelerated gray is sometimes due to a condition called “canities subita,” or Marie Antoinette syndrome, where hair turns white overnight due to extreme stress or trauma. In this case, the streak could be counted as an emotional war scar.

Wardrobe on the campaign trail has been just as fascinating. Because Tulsi is so fit, so all her suits look amazing on her, though I had wrongly assumed most of her looks were designer. Backstage at Tucker, I learned this wasn’t the case. The majority of her suits come from Zara, because they are always coming out with new seasonal, affordable styles. Her suits typically range between $200-300. In fact, in the dressing room that night, she confessed that the one blazer she owns from Veronica Beard is actually a hand-me-down from Kristi Noem. I laughed out loud when she told me so.

The green suit I chose for the event was a hunter green Veronica Beard, a last minute pick. I had green in mind with two hours to shop before my flight. I paid too much, but cutting down meandering mall time felt infinitely worth it that day.

Kari Lake appeared backstage in the same shade as me, vibrant as ever. She held an orange light over each selfie snapped, to bathe everyone’s faces in softer lighting. Each of her photos reflected better versions of ourselves.

Before I went on, she pulled me into a small prayer circle asking that my nerves dissolve and butterflies turn into doves.

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Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb

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The “Reclaim America” tour launched with this event. The site quickly reached full capacity at 650 seats. Some people sat in the hot sun for up to 3 hours hoping to snag a spot. The Fire Marshall declared the venue closed to new arrivals. An additional 400 people filled the overflow room, and over 1,200 were turned away, unable to get in due to strict building limits.

“They underestimated the crowd turnout. It was at capacity with another 800 people outside in line waiting to get in. Luckily, I managed to make it to the overflow room. There was way more support than expected for this event,” someone wrote on X.

“The venue, which I had researched to hold 1,000 seats, was completely filled. Hundreds of people were left waiting outside, unable to get in due to the full capacity.”

“Full house…stood in line for 2 hours, got turned away as they were at full capacity. A couple hundred were turned away. Needed a bigger venue. Happy to see so many turned out to welcome Tulsi and RFK to the Trump ticket.”

Bobby and Tulsi were introduced by Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who had recently lost the GOP Senate primary to Kari Lake. Born in Hawaii, like Gabbard, Lamb lauded RFK’s stance on vaccines, saying, “I admire his position on COVID and the vaccine. His voice is incredibly powerful.”

The evening’s theme was the decay of the Democratic Party, examined by three disillusioned Democrats urging voters to recognize why the party had lost valuable voices who were essentially choosing personal values over party ties.

I was happy to highlight two friends I’d come to respect on this shared journey.

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INTRO

“For those unfamiliar with why I’m here and what I do, my name is Jessica Kraus, better known to many of you as House Inhabit. I live in San Clemente, California, and I’m a mother to four boys.

I began my online journey many years ago as a liberal-leaning lifestyle blogger, sharing my family life as a stay-at-home mom. Over time, I ventured into pop culture and covering high-profile trials.

Then, last year, I woke up and decided I needed to shift my entire focus to politics. I suppose I craved a mother’s perspective on the campaign trail and didn’t know where to find that. I anticipated this shift would be a noble but unpopular pivot. It’s hard to get people to care about politics when you’re known for dissecting salacious Hollywood sex scandals. Going from Johnny Depp to suits and legislation is a tough sell.

What I didn’t expect was how much this shift would resonate with so many people across America who felt the same way I did.

It turns out positive political coverage was accidentally popular.

As of today, I have 1.3 million followers on Instagram, and my Substack newsletter is #1 in culture. My combined monthly views extend 300 million.

The access I’ve been granted over the last year is unparalleled, especially by mainstream standards. They like to say I’m not a “real journalist,” and I don’t know that I resent that. So far, “not a real journalist” has only worked in my favor.

I approach every invitation with an open mind, respect, and curiosity — the way journalists used to operate.

As many of you know, we’re currently fighting multiple wars in this country, but the war with the media may be the most devastating of all because it is shaping opinions and fueling division through lies, manipulation, and propaganda, while serving the agendas of soulless billionaires and elite forces.

I’m paid by the people. My only obligation is to relay what I witness and let my audience decide what they think about it.

Robert Kennedy was the first to grant me intimate access. When he invited me to stay at the Kennedy Compound, I took my family, including my youngest son, who I am proud to say now serves as the official 4th-grade correspondent to his peers.

My coverage of RFK has been largely driven by the mothers whose interests he represents — women not only mocked by the media but outright ignored by their government when they voiced concerns about their children’s health and the vaccine schedule.

A few months later, I met Tulsi in her hometown during a campaign stop in Hawaii. She had just come from a morning surf with her husband, Abraham. We didn’t talk politics. In fact, she played tour guide, telling us where to eat and what to see, recounting highlights of her childhood on the island. Watching her drive away that day, I remember thinking she was too good for D.C. I honestly didn’t believe people like her existed in the establishment.

That meeting cemented my commitment to countering the mainstream narratives surrounding people like Tulsi, Bobby, and President Trump, because their mission and their intentions deserve it.

Today, we’re here to have an honest conversation about the issues that matter to all of us — directly from two people who’ve dared to challenge the system.

And with that, I’m delighted to welcome two of my most compelling subjects this year: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard.”

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Throughout the evening, both Kennedy and Gabbard argued that Trump and Kennedy passionately laid out arguments about the left serving warmongers and neocons, as well as being targeted by the “systematic weaponization of government.” Tulsi added, “We the people are far more powerful than them, which is why they are trying to destroy us, but we the people will not let them do that.”

When asked how political warfare was impacting the election, Bobby shared a personal story: “Right after I endorsed President Trump, I received a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Institute saying they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago,” he explained. “It’s 15 years past the statute of limitations.”

In response to the probe, Kennedy accused the fisheries agency of being complicit in the killing of endangered whales due to its approval of offshore wind farms on the East Coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration did not respond to requests for comment. “This is all about the weaponization of our government against political opponents,” he stated.

The story resurfaced after Bobby suspended his presidential campaign last month, and a 2012 interview with his daughter, Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, published in Town & Country Magazine, began circulating on social media. In the interview, his oldest daughter recalled her father using a chainsaw to cut off the head of a dead whale carcass on the beach near their Cape Cod family home, later driving the head back to New York.

As the story gained traction, the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund called for NOAA to investigate Kennedy, claiming that his actions might have compromised important scientific research. Bobby dismissed the matter, saying, “I’m not gonna talk about that. I will talk about serious policy issues. The mainstream media doesn’t want to talk about that. They want to talk about gossipy nonsense.”

He then explained his decision to suspend his campaign: “It became clear to me that my remaining in this race would bring to power a candidate who I believe will be easily manipulated by the deep state, the national security state, and the intelligence agencies. They will keep us in a state of continual war and seal the destruction of the United States of America.”

Both painted a dystopian picture of not just where the country is heading under a Harris administration, but the world at large, presenting Trump as the only candidate capable of stopping “the endless wars.” Bobby specifically pointed to the endorsement from Dick Cheney as concerning evidence that a Harris presidency is the path to “continual war.”

“Today it’s become the party of war, it’s become the party of surveillance, it’s become the party of censorship,” Kennedy told the crowd at Arizona Christian University in Glendale.

“It’s no longer the party that I recognized.”

America’s health was the main topic: getting our kids healthy by cleaning up our food and water.

“We need to bring America together,” he added.

“If we want to Make America Healthy Again, if we want to Make America Great Again, we need to unify this country.”

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Bobby has visited Arizona twice in the past month, first traveling to Phoenix in late August to announce the suspension of his campaign. He mentioned to reporters that he plans to return to the state for 10 days leading up to the November election.

The press sat for an over an hour listening to the grim warnings about us sliding toward WW3. But in the press line after, naturally, mention of the whale head investigation got all the attention.

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Related: NOAA confirms investigation into RFK Jr. over dead whale carcass