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Former presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard says she is leaving the Democratic Party

Published October 12, 2022 at 3:25 AM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2020, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, speaks during the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner in Manchester, N.H. Kai Kahele is favored to win the Democratic Party’s nomination to represent Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District in the primary election. The seat is currently held by Gabbard, a Democrat who decided not to run for reelection so she could focus on her presidential campaign, which was ultimately unsuccessful. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Former congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has announced she is leaving the Democratic party.

"I can no longer remain in today's Democratic party," she said on an episode of her podcast. "It's now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers, driven by cowardly wokeness..."

Gabbard additionally accused the party of "stoking anti-white racism," being contemptuous toward religion and police and driving the country closer to nuclear war.

Gabbard was first elected to her native state of Hawaii's legislature in 2002 as a Democrat, at the age of 21. She has identified as a Democrat ever since, she said.

In 2012, Gabbard became the first Hindu and one of the first two female combat veterans elected to Congress. She began building a national profile during the 2016 election, when she resigned from her post as vice chairperson of the Democratic National Committee to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for president.

She announced her own presidential run on CNN in January 2019, saying, "There is one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace."

She dropped out of the race in March 2020 and endorsed President Biden.