Who Is Tulsi Gabbard?

Who is Democratic 2020 Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard?

Tulsi Gabbard has had a few firsts that she made realities in Congress – being the first practicing Hindu member of Congress, the first Samoan-American to represent a state as well as the fact that she was also the first female combat veteran elected to Congress, along with Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth.

Gabbard was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives in 2002, but in 2004 she stepped down and choose to serve her country as part of a field medical unit in an Iraqi combat zone from 2004 to 2005, and later in Kuwait from 2008 to 2009.

Despite her firsts and achievements, Gabbard’s 2020 campaign hasn’t been shining very brightly lately. And why is that you may ask? Well, in short, her campaign and some of her ideas are quite similar to former failed presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Sanders’. Primarily, she is a supporter of Medicare for All despite the predictions of economic doom from many on the left that may come with it for America. One of the more popular Democratic stances she supports is LGBT rights. She also considers herself a “hawk” on terrorism and perhaps because of her 2020 candidacy, Gabbard announced in October that she wouldn’t be seeking another term in Congress.

She's had some notable moments, though, in a few Democratic debates, which served to kind of “explode” her popularity online. She attacked Senator Kamala Harris over her prosecution record in one debate, and then the reporting of CNN and The New York Times in another that fueled her popularity to a level that earned her the #1 most searched Democratic candidate on Google for a short while.

One of the most interesting things said about her was when Hillary Clinton accused Gabbard of being a “Russian asset.” Most of the other 2020 candidates, including President Trump, criticized Clinton and defended Gabbard, in a way showing the 2020 runners’ equal disdain for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

2020 could be, however, the last we see of Gabbard for a while, due to her announcement of not seeking re-election to Congress and only focusing on her presidential campaign.