From the very first time Tulsi Gabbard broke out the white pantsuit, everyone knew that she was the most stylish candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential race. But did you know she’s also the fittest?
A hilarious pushup contest broke out at a Gabbard town hall on Thursday after a man challenged the Hawaii congresswoman to see who could do more pushups. She is, after all, known for her impressive workout routines, which are regularly posted to social media, and for continuing to surf actively even as she approaches age 40. So it wasn’t surprising that she crushed her challenger.
One of those memorable New Hampshire Primary moments: @TulsiGabbard challenged to a push-up contest at a Manchester Town Hall. She wins. #nhpolitics #fitn #wmur pic.twitter.com/bW2i7p28Ty
— Jean Mackin (@JeanWMUR) January 17, 2020
Morning of first #DemocraticDebate, behind the scenes in Miami https://t.co/n6rAgZ1sH7 #DemDebate #TULSI2020 pic.twitter.com/vdqFzBsjXN
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) June 27, 2019
The whole affair made the rounds on social media and offered a bit of good-natured, apolitical fun. But there is an important message to take away from it. The presidency is one of the most physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding jobs imaginable. Gabbard has demonstrated her readiness for the role, but this cannot be said of many of her competitors.
The 2020 Democratic field is dominated by the elderly. The top three candidates are Joe Biden, 77, Bernie Sanders, 78, and Elizabeth Warren, 70 — all old enough that their ability to perform the role can fairly be questioned. Warren, from all available evidence, seems energetic and healthy enough for the task, but Biden has seemed dazed, slow, and at times incoherent throughout this campaign. Sanders, for his part, literally had a heart attack. My colleague Tom Rogan and I wrote at the time that “any Sanders presidency must now be judged against the significant risk of him dying or suffering sudden physical incapacity while in office.”
As the Washington Examiner editorial board noted more recently, “Addressing candidates’ age and health is a sensitive topic — nobody wants to be seen as lacking compassion. Yet consistently elevating politicians who are at an advanced age is playing with fire and creating a real risk for the nation. Our national discourse should be taking this risk a lot more seriously.”
Gabbard’s routine displays of her fitness offer a painful reminder of what many of the other Democratic candidates lack. Let’s not allow humor to distract from the underlying gravity of that fact.
