Tulsi Gabbard's Democratic Party exit is about foreign policy - MSNBC

Former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard was erstwhile a rising prima successful progressive politics. But aft years of clashing with assorted parts of the near connected a fig of issues and becoming a impermanent big connected Fox News, she officially bid the Democratic Party farewell connected Tuesday.

Gabbard’s governmental individuality has ever been idiosyncratic. But her trajectory underscores however her circumstantial marque of antiwar authorities was ever a amended acceptable for the nationalist close than the left.

Up until a fewer years ago, Gabbard, who represented Hawaii successful Congress betwixt 2013 and 2021, was embedded reasonably firmly connected the progressive broadside of Democratic politics. While successful Congress, she received the enactment of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, organized labor, Planned Parenthood and biology groups similar the Sierra Club. During the 2016 Democratic statesmanlike primaries, she resigned from her presumption successful the Democratic National committee and backed Sanders implicit Hillary Clinton for president. Her 2020 statesmanlike platform included enactment for "Medicare for all," escaped college, large transgression justness betterment and a $15 national minimum wage.

Gabbard’s antiwar activism isn’t driven by anti-imperialism — it’s person to America First realism.

But Gabbard was not without immoderate antithetic positions that alienated galore connected the left. Particularly connected overseas policy, she held immoderate views that placed her extracurricular of the mainstream of American progressives, leftists and the Democratic Party. She opposed U.S. interventionism and authorities change, but she besides called herself a “hawk” connected terrorism. So portion she opposed the U.S.’s everlastingly wars successful places similar Afghanistan and Iraq, she felt comfy supporting brutal authoritarian repression successful places similar Egypt successful the sanction of counter-terrorism. The operation of these views led her to arguably her astir arguable enactment — meeting personally with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad portion defending his authoritarianism and vicious usage of unit against rebels and civilians. (She besides praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s enactment for al-Assad implicit erstwhile president Barack Obama’s stance connected Syria.) And she wasn't a dove erstwhile it came to the Iran atomic deal, which she opposed, and sovereignty-violating drone warfare, which she supported.

This operation of positions enactment Gabbard successful an unusual position. She was excessively hawkish for the Sanders helping of the party, excessively dovish for the belligerent helping of the Democratic Party, and excessively comfy with repressive authoritarians for either of them.

Gabbard's overseas argumentation worldview has been a root of changeless friction with the near due to the fact that overseas argumentation is simply a apical tier contented for her. She served 2 combat tours successful the Middle East, she’s a existent Army Reserve officer, and her absorption connected warfare has consistently been astatine the halfway of her governmental task arsenic an elected authoritative and a commentator. She besides cites it arsenic the biggest crushed she has near the Democratic Party and efficaciously joined the right-wing populist media scene. In her exit announcement, she said that “above all” it was Democrats’ tolerance for a imaginable atomic standoff with Russia, owed to their Ukraine strategy, that was her biggest occupation with what she perceived arsenic a changed party.

If absorption to arming Ukraine is one’s animating motive, Gabbard is close that there’s nary location for her successful the Democratic Party astatine the moment. (It is astonishing that determination haven't been more vocal calls for caution successful arming Ukraine from the antiauthoritarian socialists successful Congress, for what it's worth.) By contrast, successful the GOP, the Trump helping of the enactment has criticized the travel of weapons to Ukraine according to a right-wing nationalist logic: They hardly instrumentality objection to Putin accumulating much powerfulness connected the satellite stage, and they’d alternatively absorption coldly connected U.S. interests and put successful information astatine home.

It makes consciousness that that outlook would resonate with Gabbard. Her antiwar activism isn’t driven by anti-imperialism — it’s person to America First realism. As Branko Marcetic wrote successful Jacobin successful 2017, Gabbard's rhetoric astir warfare has focused astir exclusively connected the destiny of U.S. work members, and neglected to see the outgo of the warfare for the countries the U.S. has attacked. She dresses up “nationalism successful antiwar garb, reinforcing alternatively of undercutting the toxic rhetoric that treats foreigners arsenic little deserving of dignity than Americans,” helium wrote.

In the past mates of years, though, Gabbard’s clashes with the near person expanded beyond overseas policy. Gabbard has taken pointedly right-wing positions connected issues similar cheery rights, trans rights and termination rights. Strikingly, she besides pivoted to the close connected economical issues, describing President Joe Biden’s societal information nett spending docket arsenic fostering a “cradle-to-grave mentality of authorities dependence.” Along the way, she showed up much and much connected right-wing shows, including the aforementioned impermanent hosting connected Fox News. In her caller statement, she offered modular right-wing civilization warfare positions connected instrumentality and order, and deemed “woke” authorities “anti-white racism.”

There are a fig of factors that could beryllium fueling Gabbard’s afloat rightward shift. Her overseas argumentation views person remained comparatively consistent, and it’s imaginable that aft burning truthful galore bridges with the near implicit overseas policy, she decided that she could much easy advocator for the views she prizes astir by joining the right. It’s besides imaginable she finds that her ideas are much apt to supply her with much wealth and power arsenic a pundit connected the right. (Her announcement that she was exiting the Democratic Party was connected the time she launched a caller self-titled YouTube show.)

Additionally it's worthy noting that immoderate of her caller reactionary views connected societal issues are closer to ones she held earlier she ran for U.S. Congress and perchance shed due to the fact that she wanted to beryllium a viable Democrat. Whatever the reason, the upshot is that she's swiftly traveled from a left-leaning populism to a right-leaning populism.

In the past earlier her full-fledged pivot to the right, Gabbard was often viewed among progressives arsenic idiosyncratic with tenable home governmental views but oddball and sometimes profoundly unsavory overseas argumentation views. The world each on whitethorn person been that she was a nationalist looking to articulate an America First worldview, and she decided that the lone spot to beforehand it is successful the MAGA scene.