Tulsi Gabbard says she is leaving the Democratic Party

Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard announced Tuesday that she is leaving the Democratic Party.

Driving the news: "I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers who are driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue and stoking anti-white racism," she said in a video posted on Twitter.

The big picture: Gabbard, who sought the Democratic nomination during the 2020 election, supports policy positions, particularly in the foreign policy realm, often out of line with the Democratic mainstream.

Her positions during the 2020 campaign led her to receive a boost from conservative voices, Axios' Sara Fischer reports.

Tulsi Gabbard leaves Democratic Party, denounces it as 'elitist cabal'

Tulsi Gabbard argues the Democrats have given into 'cowardly wokeness' and 'anti-white racism'

Former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard announced she left the Democratic Party on Tuesday, denouncing the organization as an "elitist cabal."

Gabbard, who retired from the House of Representatives in 2021, attacked the institution in a nearly 30-minute video posted to her YouTube account. She did not announce plans to join the Republican Party or adopt any other political affiliation, however.

"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," Gabbard said in an excerpt posted to Twitter.

"I believe in a government that is of the people, by the people and for the people. Unfortunately, today's Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government that is of, by and for the powerful elite," she continued. "I'm calling on my fellow common sense, independent-minded Democrats to join me in leaving the Democratic Party."

Gabbard's announcement served as the inaugural episode of "The Tusli Gabbard Show," a podcast she is now running.

Gabbard has grown increasingly estranged from the Democratic establishment since her failed candidacy in the 2020 presidential primary. She has also become a vocal critic of President Biden, denouncing him for "pouring fuel on the flames" of division in the country.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich praised Tulsi for ditching the Democrats in a Tuesday statement on Fox News. He argued that she is one of many Americans who traditionally have voted blue but now find the Democrats unrecognizable.

[Gabbard] has always been sort of an independent maverick," Gingrich said. "And I think when she ran for president, she realized how really isolated she was from the great majority of the Democratic Party, which is now, frankly, a pretty weird party….I think you're seeing this drift. And we've certainly seen among Latinos a huge drift towards the Republican Party as they're driven away by the weirder policies of the Democratic Party."

Tulsi Gabbard says she’s leaving the Democratic Party

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii said Tuesday she is leaving the Democratic Party because it is controlled by an “elitist cabal” that is courting nuclear war and is too hostile toward people of faith and the police.

Ms. Gabbard, who served in Congress from 2013 to 2021, posted a Twitter video outlining her complaints with her former party.

She said Democrats are “driven by cowardly wokeness” and make everything about race, and they “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.”

Ms. Gabbard, an Army reserve officer who makes television appearances, has sparred with her party before, including complaints about the nominating process in 2016 after she endorsed Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, for president.

She met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian civil war, raising eyebrows, and often speaks out against military interventions.