Rep Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) has announced her intentions to run for president.
CNN reports the first Samoan American and first Hindu American elected to Congress will make a formal announcement sometime next week.
“There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision. There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I’m concerned about and that I want to help solve,” she said on CNN’s Van Jones show which airs Saturday night at 7 p.m. She listed access to health care, climate change and criminal justice reform as issues important to her.
In 2016, Gabbard endorsed Bernie Sanders for president and resigned her position as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee after the party limited debates between Sanders and eventual nominee Hillary Clinton.
According to Reuters , Gabbard drew criticism for secretly meeting with Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad in 2017 during a trip to Syria. She said war and peace will be the focus of her campaign.
“When the opportunity arose to meet with him, I did so because I felt it’s important that if we profess to truly care about the Syrian people, about their suffering, then we’ve got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there is a possibility that we could achieve peace, and that’s exactly what we talked about,” she said in 2017 to CNN’s Jake Tapper.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has already announced she has formed an exploratory committee for a possible run. Sen Kamala Harris (D-CA) is expected to announce she will run sometimes during Martin Luther King weekend.
The field for Democrats to oppose President Trump is expected to be a crowded one.
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