Tulsi Gabbard says she is leaving the Democratic Party

Tulsi Gabbard says she is leaving the Democratic Party.

In a video posted to Twitter, the former U.S. congresswoman from Hawaii — who mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination — said she can “no longer stomach” the direction that “woke Democratic Party ideologues are taking our country.”

“I can no longer remain in today's Democratic Party that's under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers,” Gabbard said, “who are driven by cowardly wokeness who divide us by racializing every issue and stoking anti-white racism, who actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms that are enshrined in our Constitution, who are hostile to people of faith and spirituality, who demonize the police but protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans who believe in open borders, who weaponize the national security state to go after their political opponents and above all, who are dragging us ever closer to nuclear war.

“Now I believe in a government that's of the people, by the people and for the people,” Gabbard continued. “Unfortunately, today's Democratic Party does not. Instead it stands for a government that is of, by and for the powerful elite.”

The 41-year-old U.S. Army Reserve officer, who represented Hawaii's Second Congressional District from 2013 to 2021, said she is calling on “fellow common sense, independent-minded Democrats” to join her in leaving the party.

She posted a similar, lengthy statement online explaining her departure.

During the 2020 Democratic primary, Gabbard participated in several debates, sparring with fellow candidates over foreign policy.

She also sued Hillary Clinton for seeming to suggest that Republicans were “grooming” Gabbard to be a spoiler as a third-party candidate. Clinton, who did not mention Gabbard by name, further suggested that she was “the favorite of the Russians.” (Gabbard eventually dropped her lawsuit.)

Gabbard won just two delegates during the primary, both from American Samoa. She dropped out of the race in March 2020 and endorsed Joe Biden.

Since leaving Congress, Gabbard has been a regular on Fox News, even serving as a fill-in host for Tucker Carlson.

The reaction to her announcement was swift, at least on Twitter. Shortly after the video was posted, the phrase “Good riddance” was trending.