Tulsi Gabbard announced on Tuesday that she was leaving the Democratic Party as she no-longer was aligned with their views.

The former representative for Hawaii’s second congressional district and former 2020 presidential candidate left the lower house in 2021 and has since committed to publicly criticizing the Democratic Party. She has also been particularly critical of president Joe Biden. 

Gabbard’s announcement came as part of the inaugural episode of her new podcast, the Tulsi Gabbard Show. 

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Here is the full speech made by Gabbard when she announced her decision to leave the Democratic Party.

“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 & stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms, are hostile to people of faith & spirituality, demonize the police & 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, dragging us ever closer to nuclear war.

I believe in a government that is of, by, and for the people. Unfortunately, today’s Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government of, by, and for the powerful elite. I’m calling on my fellow common sense independent-minded Democrats to join me in leaving the Democratic Party. If you can no longer stomach the direction that so-called woke Democratic Party ideologues are taking our country, I invite you to join me.”

Gabbard did not make clear whether she would be joining the Republican Party or whether she intended to remain independent. 

Shortly after her announcement, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich released a statement on Fox News praising her decision. He argued that she had joined a series of Americans who had long voted blue but now find the Democrats unrecognizable.