Tulsi Gabbard, the only Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress, on Sunday announced her endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination instead of front-runner Hillary Clinton.
“There is a clear contrast between our two candidates with regard to my strong belief that we must end the interventionist, regime change policies that have cost us so much. This is not just another ‘issue’,” said the veteran from Hawaii, who has seen action in the Iraq War.
Terming the issue “deeply personal” to her, Gabbard said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that she has resigned as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee in order to support Sanders in his bid to earn the nomination. “As a veteran and as a soldier I’ve seen firsthand the true cost of war. I served in a medical unit during my first deployment, where every single day I saw firsthand the very high human cost of that war. I see it in my friends who now, a decade after we’ve come home, are still struggling to get out of a black hole,” she said.
Gabbard said the next US commander-in-chief must be one who has the foresight, exercises good judgment and looks beyond at the consequences of actions “so we don’t continue to find ourselves in these failures that have resulted in chaos in the Middle East and so much loss of life”. Despite Sanders’ humiliating defeat in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, Gabbard felt the Vermont Senator remains highly electable. Citing the “groundswell of support” he enjoys across the country, she said: “I think this where there’s a hunger for a leader, a commander-in-chief who is honest, who has integrity, who exercises good judgement.”