After a year of barely cracking 1% support in national polls, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard ended her presidential campaign. That the Hawaii congresswoman finally conceded that two delegates from American Samoa were not enough to clinch the Democratic nomination was not surprising. That she decided to issue a glowing endorsement of presumptive nominee Joe Biden in the process of her withdrawal absolutely was.
As a matter of pure ideology, Gabbard’s endorsement constitutes an enormous practical concession that Biden is the de facto nominee. Whereas Biden is one of the most pro-war Democrats in the country, Gabbard’s pacifism cuts so deep that she nearly covers for dictators. But more than anything, her endorsement is a slap in the face to Bernie Sanders — a cold, hard reality check that his presidential dreams are dead.
In 2016, Gabbard became one of Sanders’s highest-profile supporters with her emphatic endorsement of his first presidential bid. She resigned from her post as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee to back Sanders, lambasting the foreign policy record of eventual primary victor Hillary Clinton in the process. Although Gabbard agreed to vote for Clinton in the general election, Clinton never let go of her grudge against Gabbard. When Clinton claimed Gabbard was a “Russian asset” and groomed by Republicans, Gabbard called it revenge for her 2016 support of Sanders, still remaining friendly with her 2020 rival.
On paper, Gabbard’s views much more closely align with Sanders, and in practice, she’s remained loyal to him even as they sparred for the nomination. So if Gabbard is willing to drop out and admit that Biden is the rightful nominee, why can’t Sanders?
