With no campaign manager and two gaffes already behind her, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii officially kicked off her campaign to become the Democratic Party’s next presidential nominee on Saturday.
During a small rally held against the tranquil backdrop of Hawaii’s famous Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, the four-term lawmaker reiterated her military and national security experience and the need for the next commander in chief to lead a shift in foreign policy away from “regime-change wars.”
“It is this principle of service above self, that is at the heart of every soldier. At the heart of every service member. And it is in this spirit, that today I announce my candidacy for president of the United States of America,” she said.
Gabbard’s White House aspirations have already suffered two blows since she told CNN last month she intended to contest the Democratic primary. In January, she was forced to again apologize for work she did for her father, Hawaii state Sen. Mike Gabbard, and his anti-LGBT political action committee, the Alliance for Traditional Marriage, addressing her past in an almost four-minute video.
She also faces uncertainty in the coming days as she parts ways with her initial campaign manager, Rania Batrice, and consulting firm Revolution Messaging after Saturday’s launch. The departure is reportedly due to Gabbard’s decision to signal her 2020 plans on CNN after her team spent the holidays working on a different rollout strategy.
“What our country needs now more than ever is the spirit of Aloha,” Gabbard said Saturday. “That spirit of respect and love for one another and for our country.”
Gabbard, 37, is one of the youngest Democrats to openly declare their candidacy, but joins the crowded race with an almost two-decade-long record in public life.
First elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives in 2002 at 21, Gabbard was the youngest woman in history to be seated in a U.S. statehouse. A member of the Hawaii Army National Guard, she chose not to seek re-election in 2004 so she could deploy to Iraq. When she returned to the U.S. after another, separate deployment to Kuwait, she successfully ran for Honolulu City Council in 2011 before she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013 as its first Samoan-American and Hindu lawmaker.
Once in Washington, Gabbard’s quick ascension to vice-chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee was not without controversy. She resigned from her post atop of the party in 2016 to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who eventually failed to win his Democratic presidential nomination fight against Hillary Clinton later that year. Then, in 2017, she met with Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has been accused of using chemical weapons against his own people on multiple occasions, without first informing Democratic congressional leadership.
Gabbard’s next stops on the trail include trips next weekend to early-nominating state Iowa and Chicago, according to a statement from her campaign on Saturday. Her official kick-off precedes that of Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who confirmed on Saturday she would host her event in Lawrence, Mass., on Feb. 9.
