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- Tulsi Gabbard was a congresswoman representing Hawaii for 4 phrases
- Gabbard ran for president in 2020 and later endorsed Joe Biden
- Gabbard introduced she was leaving the Democratic occasion in a video message in October 2022.
Tulsi Gabbard has been appointed Director of Nationwide Intelligence by President-elect Donald Trump in a collection of unusual nominations to key authorities positions.
In August, the previous congresswoman endorsed Trump for his presidential bid on the Nationwide Guard Affiliation’s annual assembly in Michigan. Simply two months later, on October 22, she made a proper announcement at a Trump rally in North Carolina, declaring her resolution to affix the Republican Occasion. Nevertheless, Gabbard’s political journey hasn’t at all times aligned with Trump. Earlier than her shift to the Republican Occasion, Gabbard—who was elected to Hawaii’s Home of Representatives at simply 21—was identified for championing liberal causes, together with government-run healthcare, free school tuition, and gun management.
Discover out extra about her beneath.
1. She Made Historical past because the First Hindu and Samoan Congressperson in US Historical past
Gabbard is from Leloaloa, a small village on Tutuila Island in American Samoa. In 2012, she made historical past by changing into the primary Samoan-American member of Congress, representing Hawaii’s second district for 4 phrases. Raised in a multi-faith family that practiced each Christianity and Hinduism, Gabbard can be notable for being the primary Hindu ever to serve in Congress.
Gabbard didn’t search re-election in 2020, selecting as an alternative to give attention to her presidential marketing campaign. Since leaving Congress, Gabbard has launched a podcast referred to as The Tulsi Gabbard Present and has made a number of appearances on Fox Information and comic Joe Rogan‘s podcast. Moreover, she spoke on the Conservative Political Motion Convention (CPAC) in February 2022, additional aligning herself with conservative circles.
2. She Left the Democratic Occasion in 2022
In 2022, Gabbard introduced her departure from the Democratic Occasion in a video message posted to X on October 11, the place she outlined an extended record of causes for her resolution to go away.
“I can now not stay in right now’s Democratic occasion that’s below the entire management of an elitist cabal of warmongers, who’re pushed by cowardly woke-ness, who divide us by racializing each subject and stoking anti-white racism, who actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms which are enshrined in our Structure, who’re hostile to folks of religion and spirituality, who demonize the police however shield criminals on the expense of law-abiding Individuals, who imagine in open borders, who weaponize the nationwide safety state to go after their political opponents, and above all, who’re dragging us ever nearer to nuclear conflict,” she stated whereas offering broad speaking factors about her grievances.
After itemizing her causes, Gabbard referred to as on extra Democrats to go away the occasion. “I imagine in a authorities that’s of the folks, by the folks, and for the folks. Sadly, right now’s Democratic occasion doesn’t. As a substitute, it stands for a authorities that’s of, by, and for the highly effective elite. Now, I’m calling on my fellow frequent sense, independent-minded Democrats to affix me in leaving the Democratic occasion,” she stated.
3. She Is a Fight Veteran
In 2004, Gabbard left the Hawaii State Home of Representatives to deploy with the Hawaii Nationwide Guard in a medical unit to Iraq. She volunteered for one more deployment in 2008, this time serving as a army police platoon chief, coaching counterterrorism models, in accordance with a profile from The Atlantic. In the course of the years between her deployments, Gabbard graduated on the high of her class from Officer Candidate College in Alabama.
Together with Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, Gabbard is without doubt one of the first feminine fight veterans ever elected to Congress. Notably, she additionally holds the excellence of being the primary feminine fight veteran to run for president.
4. She Ran for President in 2020
Lengthy earlier than she left the Democratic occasion, Gabbard was on the first ticket within the 2020 election in an try and run towards Trump. The Democratic consultant from Hawaii made the announcement on Jan. 11, 2019, telling CNN’s Van Jones, “I’ve determined to run and can be making a proper announcement inside the subsequent week…There are a variety of causes for me to make this resolution. There are a variety of challenges which are going through the American those that I’m involved about and that I need to assist clear up.”
She defined that the important thing points that her marketing campaign centered on included healthcare, legal justice reform, and local weather change. “There may be one important subject that’s central to the remaining, and that’s the subject of conflict and peace,” Gabbard stated throughout her announcement on CNN. “I stay up for with the ability to get into this and to speak about it in depth.”
5. She Has Been Accused of Having Russian Ties
Whereas Gabbard sought the Democratic presidential nomination, Russian state propaganda typically portrayed her favorably, whereas concurrently denigrating different Democratic candidates, together with Joe Biden, in accordance with analysis from the International Coverage Analysis Institute, a Philadelphia-based assume tank.
Gabbard has additionally sparked controversy with a number of statements about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, notably claiming that the U.S. has funded organic weapons laboratories in Ukraine. On the day Russia invaded, she wrote on social media that the conflict may have been prevented if the U.S. and its Western allies had acknowledged Russia’s “reliable safety issues” relating to Ukraine’s bid to affix NATO.
These remarks have led many to accuse her of amplifying Russian propaganda. Republicans in Congress, together with former Consultant Adam Kinzinger, referred to as Gabbard’s statements “traitorous” and accused her of embracing “Russian propaganda.” Senator Mitt Romney additionally criticized her, stating that she was “parroting pretend Russian propaganda.”
