Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii has made an impression during the first 2020 Democratic debate in Miami, not for her policy stances but for a bright gray streak of hair.
The 38-year-old’s messages on topics of healthcare and immigration did not immediately resonate on social media, but her 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.”
An Iraq war veteran, she served in the Hawaii Army National Guard and was also deployed to Kuwait from 2008-2009. 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. In the debate, she promised to end America’s wars, saying: “This insanity must end.”
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.
Gabbard’s most famous international foray was to Syria in 2017. In Damascus for a “fact-finding” mission,” she 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,” she said.
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.
She was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives in 2002 at the age of 21, the youngest woman ever 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.
Before jumping into the 2020 presidential race, she was vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, but resigned in 2016 to endorse her now-competitor Sen. Bernie Sanders.
I know it’s gauche to comment on her hair, but Tulsi Gabbard’s hair is strikingly subversive.
❤️ LOVE ❤️ the silver stripe! #Resist the urge to dye it! #demdebates
— Marcy (: (@maahcyjo) June 27, 2019
So, it’s pretty much just word salad coming out of Tulsi Gabbard’s mouth, but her hair does look fierce. So she’s got that going for her. #DemDebate
— Hannah Hutchings (@HutchingsHannah) June 27, 2019
I didn’t realize that Tulsi Gabbard has Rogue-style hair but I am loving it. #DemocraticDebates
— Jenna Anderson (@heyitsjennalynn) June 27, 2019
Ok why does Tulsi Gabbard have Cruella Deville hair? #DemDebate
— Sassy Little Hobbit (@LI_politico) June 27, 2019
