https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/19/tulsi-gabbard-drops-out-of-the-democratic-presidential-primary.html


Tulsi Gabbard said on Thursday that she has dropped out of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race, after failing to gain traction in any of the nominating contests or in national polls.

“I want you to hear this from me first, friend,” she said in an email to supporters announcing her dropout. “I owe you an incredible debt of gratitude for all you’ve done as the heart and soul of our people-powered campaign: Today, I’ve made the decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency.″


Gabbard, the representative from Hawaii who officially jumped into the race in February 2019, never gained traction in national polls and lagged in fundraising. Yet she was the last woman standing in a race that saw a record six female candidates.

In the Iowa caucuses, the first contest in the 2020 primary, Gabbard received 0% of the vote, NBC News reported. She had similar results in the New Hampshire primary, the Nevada caucuses and the South Carolina primary.

She has long been seen as a controversial figure in politics, often at odds with her own party.

During her candidacy, she highlighted her record as an Iraq War veteran who would fight for good paying jobs and affordable health care.

But early on, Gabbard’s campaign came under fire for past work with her father’s anti-gay advocacy group. Her decision in 2016 to join Republicans in demanding President Barack Obama use the term “radical Islamic terrorism” and her 2017 trip to meet with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad received renewed criticism on the campaign trail.

Gabbard apologized for her past anti-LGBTQ remarks and said her position on Assad was misunderstood. She moved to the left on social issues like gay marriage and supported “Medicare for All” and a $15 minimum wage.

Her 2020 campaign received a flood of attention in October when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested on a popular podcast that the Russians were grooming a third-party candidate, apparently referring to Gabbard, whose candidacy had been promoted on some Russian websites linked to 2016 election interference.

“I’m not making any predictions, but I think they’ve got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate,” Clinton said. “She’s a favorite of the Russians.”

Gabbard dismissed the accusation and vowed not to run as a third-party candidate against Trump. In January, she sued Clinton, alleging defamation.

Gabbard had a stand-out moment during the first presidential debate, when she corrected Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan after he claimed that the Taliban committed the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

“The Taliban didn’t attack us on 9/11,” Gabbard shot back. “Al-Qaeda did.”

Her last debate performance was in November.