The Democratic presidential primary race has largely focused on domestic issues, such as reversing the Trump tax cuts, expanding healthcare, and gun control. But Rep. Tulsi Gabbard stands out in the field for her discussion of international affairs, from a noninterventionist perspective, skeptical of many foreign entanglements and against using military force against Iran.
Still, Gabbard, 38, is no peacenik. The American Samoa native served in a field medical unit of the Hawaii Army National Guard in a combat zone in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and was deployed to Kuwait from 2008 to 2009.
The second youngest of the 25 candidates in the Democratic race, she is married to Abraham Williams, a cinematographer and surfer who is seven years her junior. She was previously married to Eduardo Tamayo, her childhood sweetheart, divorcing in 2006 after four years of wedlock.
In her January 2019 campaign kickoff, Gabbard promised to end regime change wars and to only authorize war on direct enemies of the United States.
Gabbard’s most famous international foray was to Syria in 2017. In Damascus for a “fact-finding” mission,” Gabbard met Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, who stood accused of using chemical weapons against his own people during the country’s civil war, killing hundreds.
In April 2017, she said she was “skeptical” the Assad regime was behind the attack and called for an investigation after the U.S. launched a missile strike in response.
“Assad is not the enemy of the United States because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States,” Gabbard told MSNBC.
She doubled-down on her controversial statement on Twitter, accusing what she called warmongers in the media of uncalled for attacks and smears on those opposed to constant war.
Gabbard’s views on gay marriage have also come under fire after it surfaced she once worked for the Alliance for Traditional Marriage. The organization, run by her father, Hawaii state Sen. Mike Gabbard, opposes gay marriage and promotes conversion therapy. She has since apologized, blaming her socially conservative household for her teenage views.
Gabbard was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives in 2002 at the age of 21 as the youngest woman ever elected to serve in a U.S. state legislature. Gabbard was a member of the Honolulu City Council before being elected to the House of Representatives in 2012.
Prior to jumping into the 2020 presidential race, she served as the vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, but resigned in 2016 to endorse her now-competitor Sen. Bernie Sanders.
