Tulsi Gabbard addresses the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco. The former Hawaiian congresswoman announced recently she’s leaving the Democratic Party.
By KIM JARRETT
THE CENTER SQUARE ASSOCIATE EDITOR
(The Center Square) — Tulsi Gabbard is leaving the Democratic Party and is encouraging others to join her, the former congresswoman from Hawaii said in a post published Tuesday on Substack.
“I believe in a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people,” the former Democratic presidential candidate said in the post. “Unfortunately, today’s Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government of, by and for the powerful elite.”
Ms. Gabbard accused the Democratic Party of putting the U.S. on the “brink of nuclear war.”
“The party is led by warmongers who are firmly in the grips of the military industrial complex, and don’t know or care about the cost of war, or who pays the price,” she said. “President Biden and Democratic Party elite have pushed us to the precipice of nuclear war, risking starting WWIII and destroying the world as we know it.”
The Democratic Party is also weaponizing federal and state agencies against its people, Ms. Gabbard said.
“Under the Obama administration, the IRS was used to target conservative groups,” she wrote in the post. “Biden’s DOJ recently indicted 11 pro-life activists for ‘organizing an event blockading an abortion clinic.’ They didn’t use physical force. They weren’t dangerous. But seven of them are facing 11 years in prison and fines of $250,000.”
The party is stripping citizens’ rights to free speech, the right to bear arms and religion, Ms. Gabbard wrote in her post.
“Today’s Democratic party has forgotten that freedom of religion does not mean freedom from religion,” she said. “Government must respect every American’s deeply personal relationship with God, and our freedom to express and practice that faith without fear of state-sponsored reprisal, censorship or discrimination.”
Ms. Gabbard also attacked critical race theory, the participation of transgender females in women’s sports and policies that she says sexualizes children.
She said she plans to discuss the issues in depth over the next few weeks.
“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,” Ms. Gabbard said.
Ms. Gabbard was accused of being a “Russian asset” by Hillary Clinton during the 2020 presidential race.
Ms. Gabbard sued Clinton for the comment but later dropped the defamation lawsuit, according to The Hill.
