Rep. Tulsi Gabbard says she will run for president in 2020
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) has settled speculation about her political ambitions with her announcement that she’ll run for president in the 2020 election.
“I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week,” Gabbard told CNN’s Van Jones during an interview scheduled to air at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Gabbard’s declaration follows a Dec. 12 appearance on MSNBC’s “Hardball” in which she said she was “seriously considering” a presidential run.
“I’m concerned about the direction of the country,” Gabbard told host Chris Matthews.
Gabbard, 37, enters what’s likely to be a crowded Democratic field. She could find herself competing against the likes of such heavy hitters as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and former Vice President Joe Biden for the party’s nomination.
Gabbard became the first Hindu member of Congress when she was elected to the U.S. House in 2012. She also was one of the first female combat veterans elected to Congress ― deployed to Iraq from 2004 to 2005, and to Kuwait from 2008 to 2009 as a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard.
Though considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, Gabbard has displayed an unorthodox approach to progressive leadership.
She threw her support behind Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign ― an endorsement that led her to publicly resign from her role as vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.
Gabbard positioned herself as one of President Barack Obama’s fiercest critics over his handling of the so-called Islamic State. She has made no secret of her controversial views on the Middle East and Islam, and criticized Obama for refusing to use the phrase “radical Islam” to discuss jihadist groups. She opposes admitting Syrian refugees to the United States.
She drew criticism in 2017 for meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has been accused of war crimes for massacreing, torturing and starving civilians.
Gabbard also met with Donald Trump after the election in November 2016 to discuss Syria and terrorism policy. Though Gabbard has been aligned with Trump over some aspects of Middle East policy ― including whether the U.S. should provide support for Syrian militias fighting Assad ― she recently called Trump “Saudi Arabia’s bitch” for his failure to react to the Saudi killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
