Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi GabbardReuters

Former congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard announced on Tuesday that she is leaving the Democratic Party, CNN reported.

“I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party. It’s now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoking anti-white racism, who actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms enshrined in our Constitution,” Gabbard said in a video posted to social media. The announcement was made on the first episode of her new podcast, “The Tulsi Gabbard Show.”

Gabbard, who made history by becoming the first American Samoan and practicing Hindu in Congress following her election in 2012, also criticized what she said were Democrats’ “open border” policies and anti-police rhetoric.

The announcement is the culmination of years in which Gabbard has been increasingly at odds with the Democratic Party and its policies.

The former congresswoman, who represented Hawaii’s 2nd district, has long been a unique and occasionally controversial voice in the Democratic Party.

Gabbard, the first Hindu member of Congress and an Iraq war veteran, was a supporter of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid in 2016. In the past she has met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and embraced nationalist leaders.

She originally announced she would run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in January of 2019. However, Gabbard withdrew from the race and endorsed Joe Biden in March of 2020 after dismally low finishes in every primary and caucus.

Despite her endorsement of Biden, Gabbard has since been a vocal critic of the President.

“President Biden campaigned on a message of unity, healing the partisan divide bringing the country together. He just gave a big speech saying supporters of President (Donald) Trump are the most extremist group in our country and a threat to our democracy. That’s half the country,” she said in her announcement video on Tuesday.