Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard officially no longer a Democrat

Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard — who seemingly long ago was considered a rising, progressive political star — burned her final bridge with Democrats in Hawaii and around the country by announcing she was leaving the party and asking other Democrats to join her.

“I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue and stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms enshrined in our Constitution, are hostile to people of faith and spirituality, demonize the police and protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans, believe in open borders, weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents, and above all, are dragging us ever closer to nuclear war,” Gabbard wrote Tuesday.

In her lengthy statement, Gabbard said the Democratic Party: “does not believe in our constitutionally protected right to free speech … does not believe in our constitutionally protected right to freedom of religion … does not believe in our constitutionally protected right to bear arms … is ‘Big Brother’ undermining our civil liberties … racializes everything and blatantly foments anti-white racism … is anti-woman … is undermining families … (but is) for the powerful elite.”

Gabbard previously served in the state House and Honolulu City Council before winning her first of four 2nd Congressional District races beginning in 2012 to represent the neighbor islands and rural Oahu.

Initially she seemed in lock step with the rest of Hawaii’s congressional delegation, but soon drew national, conservative media attention for a string of surprising stances, including critical comments of Hawaii son and then-President Barack Obama, support for the Syrian regime, and a failed run for president in 2020.

At the end of her congressional career, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Hawaii Poll” found Gabbard with the lowest approval rating of Hawaii’s congressional representatives.

Gabbard’s approval rating hit a skid among Hawaii voters “because people were angry that it looked like she was more interested in having a national campaign and was in it for herself and running for president rather than representing the 2nd Congressional District,” said Colin Moore, director of the University of Hawaii’s Public Policy Center.

In her statement, Gabbard did not say she was joining the Republican Party but promised to provide more reasons for leaving the Democratic Party “in the coming weeks.”

Dennis Jung, chair of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, did not respond to a request for an interview but wrote in an email to the Star-Advertiser:

“We here at the Democratic Party of Hawaii are passionate toward the people of Hawaii. We believe in the people of Hawaii. We believe in the spirit of Hawaii. We send our aloha to Tulsi.”

Lynn Finnegan, chair of the Republican Party of Hawaii, said Gabbard’s decision “speaks loudly as to what we’re hearing on the street while we’re out doing campaigning when the Democratic Party takes such a huge shift to the left and when our Constitutional rights are threatened. … Whether she says she’s a Republican or not, that’s good news for us, asking for people like her to also leave the Democratic Party.”

Finnegan called Gabbard “a breath of fresh air carrying a message that resonates with me as a Republican. I hope that coming from her, a now former Democrat, it will hold more weight. This is a very strong message that helps push our message on the Republican side.”

Gabbard has flip-flopped her support for gay and lesbian rights and said during her presidential campaign that her service in the Hawaii National Guard along with gay and lesbian soldiers changed her lifelong attitudes.

But Michael Golojuch Jr., chair of the Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i — formerly the LGBT Caucus — noted that Gabbard’s announcement coincided with awareness day to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, agender people.

“Tulsi Gabbard’s announcement comes as no surprise to the Stonewall Caucus as we have seen her attack not only our party’s beliefs and leadership over the years,” Golojuch said in a statement. “Tulsi has only ramped up these attacks since President Biden has taken office.”

Gabbard’s true attitudes toward LGBT people remain unclear — along with any number of stances she’s taken over the years, Moore said.

“That’s always been the question: Who’s the real Tulsi Gabbard?” Moore said. “She has been very opportunistic in her political career but she continues to be a mystery. I think she’s lining herself up to be a political pundit with some options for political office. She continues to be very skilled about keeping her name in the media and this is a way to get her name in the media again.”

Moore noted that Gabbard has substituted for Tucker Carlson on Carlson’s Fox News show.

And the language in her announcement such as “anti-white racism” was clearly aimed at the ultraconservative, Donald Trump/Make America Great Again wing of the Republican Party, Moore said.

“She was once considered a progressive but I think people would be surprised that she was still a member of the Democratic Party since she has criticized everyone, including Barack Obama,” Moore said. “This has been a long time coming but the tone in her message was aimed at conservatives that ‘I’ve officially joined your party.’ It was a very conservative message to the Trumpist wing of the Republican Party.”