The first Hindu lawmaker in the United States Congress, Tulsi Gabbard said she will not contest in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election as an independent candidate if she fails to win the Democratic presidential nomination, according to a media report.
The 38-year-old Gabbard, an Iraq war veteran who has been serving as the U.S. Representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district since 2013, said that she will be going to focus on moving campaign forward, continuing this grassroots campaign, continuing to deliver the message to the American people and ask for their support, CNN reported.
“I will not,” she told the network. “No, I have ruled that out.”
Though prevailing in the first two Democratic debates, Gabbard was failed to qualify for the next debate in September. She reached the fundraising threshold, but did not meet the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) polling minimum to qualify, the report said.
She claimed on Thursday that there is “no explanation or transparency around why certain polls are qualifying while other very credible recognized polls are somehow not qualifying.”
“Frankly, the DNC has not provided any transparency to voters about how they’re making these decisions,” she said.
Gabbard is extremely popular among Indian Americans. She converted to Hinduism early in her life.
Earlier this month, Gabbard took a break for two weeks to report for active duty with the Hawaiian Army National Guard in Indonesia for training exercises that include counter-terrorism and disaster response.
Gabbard served in the Hawaii Army National Guard in Iraq from 2004 to 2005. She also served a second deployment in Kuwait in 2008 and 2009, working with the Kuwaiti Army.
