Former congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has announced she is leaving the Democratic party.
“I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic party,” she said on an episode of her podcast. “It’s now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers, driven by cowardly wokeness…”
Gabbard additionally accused the party of “stoking anti-white racism,” being contemptuous toward religion and police and driving the country closer to nuclear war.
Gabbard was first elected to her native state of Hawaii’s legislature in 2002 as a Democrat, at the age of 21. She has identified as a Democrat ever since, she said. Gabbard did not indicate whether she would be joining the Republican Party, but she unleashed a litany of condemnations against President Biden and Democrats, focusing largely on the party’s infringement on the freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
Gabbard defends pro-life activists, religious freedom
In her message, Gabbard recounted the Department of Justice’s recent arrests and indictments of pro-life activists such as Catholic father of seven Mark Houck, saying security agencies have been “weaponized” against Americans.
“Seven of these 11 pro-life protesters are facing 11 years in prison and fines of $250,000,” she said. “They didn’t use physical force, they weren’t dangerous.”
Gabbard’s defense of pro-lifers contradicts her voting record. While serving as a member of Congress from 2013 to 2021, Gabbard consistently voted against pro-life measures and received a 90% rating from national pro-abortion organization NARAL Pro-Choice America.
In the 2020 presidential race, she campaigned saying she would codify Roe v. Wade with some restrictions.
“I support codifying Roe v. Wade, while making sure that during the third trimester abortion is not an option, unless the life or severe health consequences of the woman are at risk,” she said in a 2019 debate.
Gabbard contrasted the Biden administration’s treatment of pro-lifers with the way it handled pro-abortion activists after Roe v. Wade was overturned this summer.
“The Biden administration stood by and did absolutely nothing as activists protested outside the homes of Supreme Court justices during all hours of the day and night in clear violation of federal law,” Gabbard said.
“Go back and look again. How did the Biden administration treat those pro-life, nonviolent protestors?” she said.
In 2012, Gabbard became the first Hindu and one of the first two female combat veterans elected to Congress. She began building a national profile during the 2016 election, when she resigned from her post as vice chairperson of the Democratic National Committee to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for president.
She announced her own presidential run on CNN in January 2019, saying, “There is one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace.”
Gabbard cites Democratic Party’s ‘wokeness’
“I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue and stoke anti-white racism,” Gabbard explained.
On the question of religion, Gabbard accused Democrats of being “hostile to people of faith” and said that Democrat leaders “actively try to undermine our religious freedom.”
“High-profile Democrat leaders openly mock and discriminate against people of faith, especially Christians,” Gabbard — who was the first Hindu member of Congress — said.
Giving examples, she referred to then Sen. Harris’ remarks that Brian Buescher’s membership in the Knights of Columbus disqualified him from serving as a federal judge.
She also mentioned California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s attack on Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett for her devout Catholic faith.
“The Democrat Party of today has forgotten that freedom of religion does not mean freedom from religion,” Gabbard added, recalling the party’s decision to omit the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance at its 2020 convention.
Gabbard also discussed the party’s adoption of “critical race theory,” efforts to defund the police amid rising crime, and the “self-identified Marxists” who lead the Black Lives Matter movement.
She pointed to how Democrats were silent after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot refused to be interviewed by white reporters due to their “overwhelming whiteness and maleness.”
“Modern-day segregation in schools is being promoted,” she said, speaking of critical race theorist proponents such as Robin DiAngelo. “They embrace these people and their ideology.”
“Any political party that is trying to erase the presence of God from every facet of public life and is hostile towards those who choose to worship God cannot be trusted to protect our inalienable God-given rights enshrined in the Constitution, and therefore should not be in power,” Gabbard said in a tweet explaining her decision.