Tulsi Gabbard stands out in the 25-person Democratic primary scrum not only as the youngest of six women in the field but the only surfer-politician seeking the White House.
And Gabbard, 38, won rave reviews in some quarters for her first-night debate performance, talking up her signature foreign policy issues.
Last year, she spoke about her passion for surfing, using either an 8’ 0” Firewire or a 5’ 6” Hypto Krypto whenever she and her husband, Abraham Williams, 31, tackle the breaks of Ala Moana Beach Park on the south shore of Oahu.
“I learned how to surf in my teens, maybe about 16-ish or so,” Gabbard told The Inertia, an outdoor activities website. “A friend of mine gave me an old 7’ 0” gun, and that is what I learned on. It was probably the worst possible thing to learn on, but I kind of just learned the hard way through trial and error. My next board was a 5’ 10” fish that I got from my friend for $25.
“It was kind of beat up, I think there was some duct tape on one section, but that was my favorite board for the longest time.”
Williams, her second husband, whom she met when he was her videographer, is also an avid surfer.
In 2017, she entered Hawaii’s Queen of the Bay surfing competition: “When I was there for opening ceremony of the competition, one of the competitors said, ‘Gosh, it’s just so amazing to have a politician paddling out with us,” Gabbard said.
“I expect politicians to be 70-year-old people stuck in stuffy dark rooms.’ I was very stoked to be invited to join them and join the community in showing our support for them, their skills, their talents and just the sport as a whole. I think here in Hawaii especially, being an island state, whether you surf or not having that connection with ocean and land and our home is a really special thing.”
It’s 22 degrees outside right now. I’m thinking about this epic day at home. ?: @surfpixs #surf #hawaii pic.twitter.com/j0II0g7qBn
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) February 9, 2019
In 2015, Gabbard drew heat for skipping a House hearing about veterans in order to be in Hawaii, where she conducted a video shoot with Yahoo News.
Where was Tulsi Gabbard during a local Veterans Affairs hearing? Surfing http://t.co/OVBXx6g4XE pic.twitter.com/m3UEzwKU8Y
— Honolulu Civil Beat (@CivilBeat) October 6, 2014
On Wednesday, the Hawaii congresswoman tussled with a House colleague also running for president, Tim Ryan of Ohio, in defending her noninterventionist foreign policy approach, and more controversially, a visit two years ago with Bashar Assad, the Syrian dictator.
Late in the debate Wednesday, Gabbard tore into Ryan after he falsely claimed the Taliban was behind the 9/11 terror attacks. Ryan had maintained a continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan was necessary to prevent another 9/11-level terrorist attack. Ryan said if the U.S. didn’t have troops there, the Taliban would grow, and then he made the spurious claim that the Taliban was behind the 9/11 attacks.
Gabbard retorted, “The Taliban was there long before we came in and will be there long before we leave. We cannot keep U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan thinking that we are going to somehow squash this Taliban.”
Shortly after the debate’s end, the Drudge Report political website posted a surprising instant poll showing that its visitors believed Gabbard was the overwhelming victor, polling at almost 35% with 12,314 votes. A Washington Examiner online survey also had Gabbard on top, over prominent rivals such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey.
Gabbard has always cut an unconventional profile in the political world. Elected to the state legislature in Hawaii at 21, she stands out in a profession that in many places is still dominated by older men. Gabbard’s fashion flair was on display at Wednesday’s debate, as her bright gray streak hairstyle struck a chord with many viewers. One tweet said, “I know it’s gauche to comment on her hair, but Tulsi Gabbard’s hair is strikingly subversive.”
It’s still an open question how far Gabbard can go in a presidential field that includes former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and other bold-face political names. Her foreign policy approach, including seemingly turning a blind eye
to the horrors of the Assad regime in Syria, are considered out of the mainstream by many analysts.
If Gabbard does emerge as a leading presidential candidate, voters will learn more about her surfer lifestyle, unlike any other member of Congress.
The Gabbard campaign, meanwhile, isn’t shy about capitalizing on newfound attention from Wednesday’s debate. On Thursday, her campaign sent out a fundraising email, saying: “Multiple news outlets declared Tulsi to be the breakaway winner of Wednesday’s debate. And search data shows that more people were googling Tulsi than any other debate candidate.”
