Tulsi Gabbard Leaves Democratic Party

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Facts

  • On Tuesday, former Hawaiian Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard announced she was leaving the Democratic Party in a video that served as the first episode of her “The Tulsi Gabbard Show” podcast. She didn't announce a new party affiliation.
  • Gabbard, who was the first American Samoan and first practicing Hindu to serve in Congress, accused the Democrats of being “under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoking anti-white racism, who actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms enshrined in our Constitution.”
  • She urged other “independent-minded Democrats” to follow her out of the party after she explained, “I believe in a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Unfortunately, today's Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government that is of, by, and for the powerful elite.”
  • Gabbard has often found herself at odds with members of the Democratic Party. During the 2020 race for the Democratic presidential nomination, she was criticized by fellow candidate Kamala Harris - now the US VP - for not calling Syrian Pres. Bashar al-Assad a “war criminal.” Previously, Gabbard expressed doubts about the accusations of atrocities committed by Assad.
  • More recently, Gabbard spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), drawing stern condemnation from Democrats, and demonstrating her movement rightward in US politics.
  • Gabbard’s announcement comes less than a month before the midterm elections. It also comes about eight months into the war between Russia and Ukraine, in which the US is providing Ukraine with billions of dollars of support.

Sources: FOX News, CNN, Guardian, Rollingstone, and Breitbart.

Narratives

  • Republican narrative, as provided by Red State. Good for Gabbard, leaving the Democrats and exposing their dangerous policies along the way. Hopefully, more will follow her lead to make sure Democrats don’t realize their goals and turn the US into something it should never be - a nation run by "woke," cowardly, and militaristic elites.
  • Democratic narrative, as provided by Daily Kos. This is the most anticlimactic "October surprise" possible. For nearly a decade, Gabbard’s politics have run counter to what the Democratic Party stands for. She’s supported anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and cozied up to the far-right. She can keep enjoying the limelight of Tucker Carlson Tonight and Russian media outlets - Democrats moved on long ago.