New Delhi: Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman from Hawaii and 2020 presidential candidate, on Tuesday quit the governing Democratic Party calling it an 'elitist cabal of war-mongers'. The 41-year-old leader, who retired from the House of Representatives last year, announced the move on Twitter. 'I can no longer remain in today's Democratic Party -- which is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of war-mongers driven by cowardly wokeness,” Gabbard tweeted.
Her latest action has now kept others guessing about her next move.
How will resignation impact the party?
Gabbard has been elected to the US House of Representatives in 2013 from Hawaii. She was the first-ever Hindu to be elected subsequently for four consecutive terms. She represented Hawaii’s Second Congressional District from 2013 to 2021.
'The Democrats of today divide us by racialising every issue, stoking anti-white racism, and are actively working to undermine our God-given freedoms enshrined in our Constitution,' she wrote in a separate tweet.
Gabbard’s resignation comes amid deepening polarisation between the two major parties -Republicans and Democrats ahead of the midterm elections on November 8 that will determine which party will gain control of Congress. The results will also impact the second half of President Joe Biden’s term in office.
'The Democrats of today are hostile to people of faith and spirituality. They demonise the police and protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans,' she noted.
The former Democratic leader, who was a soldier in the US Army Reserves and veteran of three deployments, became increasingly estranged from the Democratic Party after her unsuccessful bid for the White House.
'The Democrats of today believe in open borders and weaponise the national security state to go after political opponents. Above all else, the Democrats of today are dragging us ever closer to nuclear war,' said Gabbard, according to PTI report.
Gabbard, who remained a fierce critic of President Joe Biden also condemned the leader for 'pouring fuel on the flames' of the division in the country. She also criticised Russia's military invasion of Ukraine on Biden's failed foreign policy.
'I believe in a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Unfortunately, today's Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government of, by, and for the powerful elite,' she said.
Gabbard also called upon other members of the Democratic party to leave the party. 'I'm calling on my fellow common sense, independent-minded Democrats to leave as well. 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 added.