Washington: Former Democratic House member and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard announced she was leaving the party on Tuesday. She alleged that the party leadership is now under the complete control of an “an elitist cabal” driven by “cowardly wokeness.”
She served as the US representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021.
“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 & stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms, are hostile to people of faith & spirituality, demonize the police & protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans, believe in open borders, weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents, and above all, dragging us ever closer to nuclear war,” Gabbard said in a video posted on Twitter.
“I believe in a government that is of, by, and for the people,” Gabbard said. “Unfortunately, today’s Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government of, by, and for the powerful elite. I’m calling on my fellow common sense independent-minded Democrats to join me in leaving the Democratic Party,” she added.
“If you can no longer stomach the direction that so-called woke Democratic Party ideologues are taking our country, I invite you to join me,” she said.
She made the announcement in the inaugural episode of her new podcast, “The Tulsi Gabbard Show,” which launched this week. The first 28-minute episode of the show titled “Why I’m leaving the Democratic Party” is now available on YouTube.
Gabbard embraced the Hindu faith as a teenager. Gabbard is vegan, who follows Gaudiya Vaishnavism. She describes herself as a karma yogi. She values the Bhagavad Gita as a spiritual guide and took the oath of office in 2013 using her personal copy, which she gave to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the latter’s visit to the United States in 2014.
