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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 endorsed former President Donald Trump’s bid for the White House on August 26 on the National Guard Association’s annual assembly in Michigan. And now, she has formally introduced her choice to hitch the Republican Party at a Trump rally in North Carolina—a key swing state within the upcoming election—on Tuesday, October 22.
In 2022, Gabbard, 43, introduced her departure from the Democratic Party in a video message posted to X on Oct. 11. The 2020 presidential candidate, who has since change into an everyday and outspoken visitor on Fox News, outlined an extended record of causes for her choice to go away the occasion within the video.
“I can now not stay in right now’s Democratic occasion that’s beneath the entire management of an elitist cabal of warmongers, who’re pushed by cowardly woke-ness, who divide us by racializing each difficulty and stoking anti-white racism, who actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms which can be enshrined in our Constitution, who’re hostile to individuals of religion and spirituality, who demonize the police however defend criminals on the expense of law-abiding Americans, 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 known as on extra Democrats to go away the occasion. “I imagine in a authorities that’s of the individuals, by the individuals, and for the individuals. Unfortunately, right now’s Democratic occasion doesn’t. Instead, 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 hitch me in leaving the Democratic occasion,” she stated.
Find out extra concerning the former congresswoman right here.
1. She Made History because the First Hindu and Samoan Congressperson in US History
Gabbard is from Leloaloa, a small village on Tutuila Island in American Samoa. She made historical past in 2012 by turning into the primary Samoan member of Congress, representing Hawaii’s second district for 4 phrases.
Gabbard didn’t search re-election in 2020 as a result of her presidential run. Raised in a multi-faith household training each Christianity and Hinduism, she can be the primary Hindu congressperson. Additionally, together with Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, Gabbard is likely one of the first feminine fight veterans ever elected to Congress—and she or he holds the excellence of being the primary feminine fight veteran to run for president.
Since leaving Congress, Gabbard has launched a podcast known as The Tulsi Gabbard Show and has made a number of appearances on Fox News and comic Joe Rogan‘s podcast. Additionally, she spoke on the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2022, additional aligning herself with conservative circles.
2. She Made History because the Youngest Person Elected to Hawaii’s State Legislature
Gabbard was simply 21 years outdated when she joined the Hawaii House of Representatives in 2002, serving in workplace for 2 years.
Had she received the 2020 election, she would have change into the youngest president in United States historical past at 39 years outdated. The document for the youngest president presently belongs to Theodore Roosevelt, who was 42 when he assumed the presidency.
3. She Is a Combat Veteran
She left the Hawaii State House of Representatives in 2004 to deploy with the Hawaii National Guard in a medical unit to Iraq. She volunteered for an additional deployment in 2008, that point as a “army police platoon chief coaching counterterrorism items,” per a profile from The Atlantic. In between the deployments, she graduated on the prime of her class from an Officer Candidate School in Alabama.
4. She Ran for President in 2020
Long earlier than she left the Democratic occasion, Gabbard was on the first ticket within the 2020 election in an try to 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 shall be making a proper announcement inside the subsequent week…There are lots of causes for me to make this choice. There are lots of challenges which can be dealing with the American those that I’m involved about and that I wish to assist remedy.”
She defined that the important thing points that her marketing campaign centered on included healthcare, felony justice reform, and local weather change. “There is one principal difficulty that’s central to the remaining, and that’s the difficulty of conflict and peace,” Gabbard stated throughout her announcement on CNN. “I sit up for with the ability to get into this and to speak about it in depth.”
5. She was the Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee till resigning
Gabbard gave up the place to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders’ bid for the 2016 presidential race. After resigning and supporting the Vermont senator, she later ran towards Sanders within the 2020 election.
Important announcement.
From Oahu, Hawaiʻi. #StandWithTulsi pic.twitter.com/XcHshtgVYA— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) March 19, 2020
After they each dropped out, they every endorsed President Joe Biden. “It’s clear that Democratic main voters have chosen Vice President Joe Biden to be the one who will tackle President Trump within the common election,” she stated in a March 2019 announcement video. “I’m assured that he’ll lead our nation, guided by the spirit of aloha respect, and compassion, and thus assist heal the divisiveness that has been tearing our nation aside.”