Gabbard has a history of problematic judgment when it comes to U.S. foreign policy, demonstrating a unique pattern of siding with dictators. In 2015, Gabbard flew to Syria to have a private meeting with then-president Bashar Al-Assad, who was accused and later found responsible for attacking his own people with chemical weapons. She subsequently claimed he was not the enemy of the United States. Gabbard also took Russia’s side when discussing U.S. involvement in the Ukraine War, claiming Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was justified by valid security concerns. |
2017: Gabbard Went To Syria And Met With Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. According to The Washington Post, “Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) just did something few members of Congress dare to do these days: Go to Syria and meet with the man the United States has actively been trying to oust, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Besides the fact a sitting member of Congress met with the leader of a nation that Washington has no diplomatic relations with — a man whom former president Barack Obama described as the main roadblock to peace in Syria — the timing of Gabbard's trip is perplexing.” [Washington Post, 1/26/17]
Gabbard Said The Meeting With Assad Was Unplanned But That She Could Not Pass Up The Opportunity. According to the Washington Post, “Gabbard said the meeting with Assad was unplanned but that she couldn't pass up the opportunity. In an interview Wednesday with CNN's Jake Tapper, she elaborated: ‘When the opportunity arose to meet with him, I did so because I felt it was important that if we profess to indeed care about the Syrian people … then we've got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there's a possibility we could achieve peace. And that's exactly what we talked about.’” [Washington Post, 1/26/17]
Gabbard Said She Went To Syria To See And Hear Directly From The Syrian People Affected By The Conflict. According to the Washington Post, “‘The lives of millions of Syrians have been destroyed by a horrific war that has killed hundreds of thousands and forced millions to flee their homeland,’ she [Gabbard] wrote in an op-ed in the Honolulu Star Advertiser. ‘I went there last week to see and hear directly from the Syrian people.’” [Washington Post, 1/26/17]
2019: Gabbard Said She Did Not Regret Meeting With Assad, Who Was Accused Of Using Chemical Weapons On Civilians. According to The Washington Post, “Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) said Sunday that she does not regret her 2017 meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been accused of using chemical weapons to attack civilians in the country’s years-long civil war. Gabbard, a 2020 presidential candidate, has previously drawn criticism for voicing skepticism that the Assad regime was behind the chemical weapons attacks. Asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper whether she regrets the meeting, Gabbard said she did not, drawing a comparison between her sit-down with Assad and President Trump’s summit last year with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. ‘I have seen this cost of war firsthand, which is why I fight so hard for peace,’ said Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran. ‘And that’s the reality of the situation that we’re facing here. It’s why I have urged and continue to urge President Trump to meet with people like Kim Jong Un in North Korea because we understand what’s at stake here. The only alternative to having these kinds of conversations is more war.’” [Washington Post, 1/20/19]
Gabbard Said She Was “Skeptical” That Assad’s Government Perpetrated An April 2017 Chemical Weapons Attack. According to POLITICO, “Gabbard previously said she was ‘skeptical’ that Assad’s government perpetrated a chemical weapons attack in April 2017 that killed dozens of Syrians, although the Defense Department and the United Nations found that his regime was responsible for the slaughter.” [POLITICO, 3/10/19]
2019: Gabbard Said Assad Was Not The Enemy Of The United States Because Syria Did Not Pose A Direct Threat To The United States. According to CNN, “Hawaii Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is not the enemy of the United States, standing by her opposition to US involvement in that country’s civil war two years after she met personally with the accused war criminal. ‘Assad is not the enemy of the United States because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States,’ Gabbard said Wednesday morning on MSNBC.” [CNN, 2/6/19]
Gabbard Would Not Answer When Asked If She Viewed Assad As An “Adversary” Of The United States. According to CNN, “Asked if she viewed Assad as an ‘adversary’ of the US, Gabbard demurred and said it was important to look at who posed a threat to the US and how the interests of other nations compare to those of the US. Pressed on the point, she said, ‘You can describe it however you want to describe it.’” [CNN, 2/6/19]
Gabbard Called Those Who Criticized Her Meeting With Assad “Warmongers.” According to CNN, “‘We heard attacks from warmongers in politics/media before. Those opposed to Iraq/Libya/Syria regime change wars are called ‘dicatator-lovers’ or ‘cozy’ with evil regimes. Rather than defend their position, they resort to name-calling & smears. American people wont fall for this,’ read Gabbard’s tweet.” [CNN, 2/6/19]
2022: Gabbard Endorsed Russia’s False Justification For Invading Ukraine Alleging Ukraine Housed Biolabs Working On Bioweapons To Be Used Against Russia. According to The Associated Press, "Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the U.S. intelligence services, in 2022 endorsed one of Russia’s main justifications for invading Ukraine: the existence of dozens of U.S.-funded biolabs working on some of the world’s nastiest pathogens. Moscow claimed Ukraine was using the labs to create deadly bioweapons similar to COVID-19 that could be used against Russia, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin had no choice but to invade neighboring Ukraine to protect his country. In fact, the labs are public and part of an international effort to control outbreaks and stop bioweapons." [Associated Press, 11/17/24]
Tulsi Gabbard Defended Putin’s Rationale For Invading Ukraine. According to Politico, “Republicans once slammed Tulsi Gabbard as a socialist seeking to appease dictators like Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin. These days, much of the GOP is embracing her. Since the former Hawaii Democratic congresswoman made a public show of her decision to leave the party last month, she has gone on to endorse several top Republicans in the run-up to next week’s midterm elections. Some GOP candidates appearing with Gabbard — who previously defended Putin’s rationale for invading Ukraine — have echoed Donald Trump’s opposition to helping Kyiv beat back Moscow.” [Politico, 11/4/22]
2022: Gabbard Claimed The Ukraine War Could Have Been Avoided If The Biden Administration And NATO “Had Simply Acknowledged Russia’s Legitimate Security Concerns.” According to BBC News, “Gabbard said that the war could have been avoided if the Biden administration and the NATO military alliance ‘had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns’ about Ukraine eventually becoming a member.” [BBC News, 11/29/24]
2022: Gabbard Suggested On Social Media That Russia’s Invasion Was Justified By Ukraine’s Potential Bid To Join NATO. According to ABC News, "By 2022, at the outset of the latest Russia-Ukraine conflict, Gabbard suggested on X that Russia's invasion was justified by Ukraine's potential bid to join NATO, ‘which would mean US/NATO forces right on Russia's border’ -- a narrative perpetuated by Russian propaganda channels, including RT [Russian news site formerly known as Russia Today], and denounced by the U.S. and NATO as ‘false.’" [ABC News, 12/5/24]
2025: Gabbard Praised Putin For Bombing Al-Qaeda In Syria When “[President] Obama Won’t.” According to The Washington Post, “Yet she was also far from a dove, vocally supporting a tougher approach to Islamist extremists and at times praising Moscow’s intervention in the war in Syria. In a 2015 message on Twitter, Gabbard wrote that al-Qaeda must be defeated for its role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. ‘Obama won’t bomb them in Syria. Putin did,’ she wrote.” [Washington Post, 11/14/24]
2018: Gabbard Equivocated Russia’s Election Interference With The U.S., Saying The U.S. “Had Been Doing This For A Very Long Time … Around The World.” According to The Washington Post, “In a podcast appearance with the comedian Joe Rogan in 2018, Gabbard said that Russia had tried to influence U.S. elections and that it was ‘wrong,’ but added that the United States ‘had been doing this for a very long time … around the world.’ She later downplayed the results of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report into Russian interference in the 2016 election, warning that if Trump had been found guilty of collusion it could have eventually led to a ‘civil war.’” [Washington Post, 11/14/24]
2013: Gabbard Voted Against Bill Aimed At Helping Government, Private Sector Fight Foreign Cyberattacks. In April 2013, Gabbard voted against the House version of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). According to the Associated Press, the bill, H.R. 624, is “[p]ro-business legislation aimed at helping companies fend off sophisticated foreign hackers” under which “businesses and the federal government would be able to share technical data without worrying about anti-trust or classification laws. The bill also would grant businesses legal immunity if hacked so long as they acted in good faith to protect their networks.” The House passed the bill by a vote of 288 to 127. The bill was then sent to the Senate which took no substantive action on it. [House Vote 117, 4/18/13; Associated Press, 4/18/13; Congressional Actions, H.R. 624]
2018: Gabbard Voted Against Reauthorizing The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. In January 2018, Gabbard voted against legislation that according to Congressional Quarterly, “would reauthorize for six years, through 2023, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs electronic surveillance of foreign terrorism suspects. The bill would reauthorize Section 702 surveillance authorities on foreign targets, and would require the development of procedures for searching the Section 702 database that would protect the Fourth Amendment rights of U.S. citizens. The bill would prohibit the FBI from accessing information without an order from the secret FISA court in certain cases. The measure would increase penalties for the unauthorized removal of classified documents or information.” The House passed the legislation by a vote of 256 to 164. The Senate later agreed to the bill and President Trump signed it into law. [House Vote 16, 1/11/18; Congressional Quarterly, 1/11/18; Congressional Actions, S. 139]
2019: Gabbard Was Absent During A Vote On The FY 2020 Minibus Appropriations Bill, Which Provided $9.9 Billion For The FBI, a 4% Increase From FY 2019. In December 2019, Gabbard missed a vote on the FY 2020 minibus appropriations bill. According to Congressional Quarterly, “the bill provides a total of $32.6 billion for the Justice department (DOJ) — 5% more than FY 2019 […] It appropriates a total of $9.9 billion for the FBI (4% more than FY 2019).” The vote was a motion to concur in the Senate Amendment. The House agreed to the motion by a vote of 280-138. The Senate then passed the bill and the President signed the bill into law. [House Vote 690, 12/17/19; Congressional Quarterly, 12/17/19; Congressional Actions, H.R.1158]
2013: Gabbard Voted Against Increasing Anti-Terrorism Funds For Large Metro Areas by $22 Million. In June 2013, Gabbard voted against an amendment that would have increased funding for DHS’ Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) by $22 million, which, according to the amendment’s sponsor, Rep. Heck (R-NV), was “for the purpose of funding the [UASI] program to the top 35 eligible metropolitan areas.” According to CQ.com, the funding increase would have been “offset by a total reduction of the same amount for the Office of the Under Secretary for Management, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, and salaries and expenses at FEMA and the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.” The amendment failed, 156 to 258. [House Vote 196, 6/5/13; Congressional Record, 6/5/13; Congressional Quarterly, 6/6/13; Congressional Actions, H. Amdt. 101; Congressional Actions, H.R. 2217]
Former members of Gabbard’s congressional staff said her “views on Russia and its polarizing leader, Vladimir Putin, have been shaped not by some covert intelligence recruitment as far as they know – but instead by her unorthodox media consumption habits,” including the Russian state-owned RT, according to ABC News. |
Three Former Aides To Gabbard Said Her Views On Foreign Policy Were Shaped By Her Consumption Of Russian Propaganda Through Outlets Like RT. According to ABC News, “ Since becoming President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard’s rosy posture toward Moscow has prompted some Democratic critics to suggest that she could be ‘compromised,’ or perhaps even a ‘Russian asset’ – claims the ex-Hawaii representative and Army officer has forcefully denied. But former advisers to Gabbard suggest that her views on Russia and its polarizing leader, Vladimir Putin, have been shaped not by some covert intelligence recruitment as far as they know – but instead by her unorthodox media consumption habits. Three former aides said Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party in 2022, regularly read and shared articles from the Russian news site RT – formerly known as Russia Today – which the U.S. intelligence community characterized in 2017 as ‘the Kremlin’s principal international propaganda outlet.’” [ABC News, 12/5/24]
Throughout her political career, Gabbard repeatedly opposed expanding rights for LGBTQ+ couples and even claimed Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill did not go far enough. |
2004: Gabbard Was A Leading Opponent Against A Bill That Would Have Given Same-Sex Couples The Opportunity For Civil Unions In Hawaii. According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, “A bill that would give gay couples the opportunity to receive the same rights and privileges as married couples through civil unions appears to be dead at the Legislature this year, despite more than three hours of impassioned testimony last night from both sides of the debate. […] Opponents, led by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, D-42nd (Waipahu, Honouliuli, 'Ewa), also held signs in protest outside the third-floor committee room. ‘The point is, they have brought this up for many years in a row,’ Tamayo said.” [Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 2/20/04]
Gabbard Said The “Don’t Say Gay” Bill Did Not Go Far Enough In Censoring Discussion Of Sexuality And Gender Identity In Public Schools. According to Advocate, “Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard posted a video message to social media saying the Florida ‘don't say gay’ bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last month doesn't go far enough in censoring the discussion of sexuality and gender identity in public schools. ‘But as I read the legislation, I gotta tell you, I was shocked to learn that it only protects kids from kindergarten till third grade,’ Gabbard said in her video message. ‘Third grade? What about 12th grade or not at all?’” [Advocate, 4/5/22]
Gabbard Expressed Strong Support For The “Don’t Say Gay” Law While Condemning “Indoctrinating Woke Sexual Values In Our Schools.” According to Advocate, “The former U.S. Representative from Hawaii and candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination expressed strong support for the new law, while also disparaging what she called ‘indoctrinating woke sexual values in our schools’ and characterized students as ‘a captive audience’ required to attend by law.” [Advocate, 4/5/22]
Growing up, Gabbard was involved in a far-right religious sect with a well-documented anti-LGBTQ+ track record. In 2015, Gabbard was seen on video praising the leader of the purported cult. In 2019, Gabbard told The New York Times that she still utilized the teachings of the leader, who was allegedly abusive to his followers. |
Gabbard Attended A Science Of Identity Foundations School While Growing Up And Was Labeled As “An Advanced Devotee” Within SIF By An Anonymous Source. According to Newsweek, "From an early age, Tulsi Gabbard was immersed into the SIF ideals. She attended schools run in the Philippines by Butler's followers. She kept her childhood Bhagavad Gita with her when she was deployed in Iraq, calling it a ‘transcendental lifeline,’ and she even later gifted the Scripture to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. […] The anonymous source called Gabbard an ‘advanced devotee’ within the SIF, adding that the more advanced a person was, the more people served them and the more others listened to them. Butler would reportedly instruct followers to back Gabbard, making them ‘very instrumental in her running for those first times in politics.’" [Newsweek, 11/22/24]
Gabbard Met Her Husband Through The Science Of Identity Foundation, Described As “An Alt-Right Branch” Of The Hare Krishna Movement. According to the Daily Beast, "In addition to bonding over a love of surfing, The Daily Mail reported that the couple also was mutually connected to the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF), a group with a history of antagonism toward LGBTQ people, women and Muslims. The group’s leader, Chris Butler, is heralded by members as a deity in his own right. The SIF, described as an alt-right branch of Hare Krishna, has reportedly developed thousands of followers across Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia—with Butler being heralded as an extension of God." [Daily Beast, 11/14/24]
Gabbard Shared A Video Praising The Leader Of The Science Of Identity Foundation, Chris Butler. According to the Hawaii Free Press, "Rep Tulsi Gabbard sent ISKCON her special videotaped greetings on this occasion. In it she praises her ‘Guru Dev Srila Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa’--which is what Chris Butler is called by his followers. The video is remarkable because it is one of the few times Gabbard directly acknowledges who she follows. Normally she keeps her cult connections under wraps, but Butler's need to assert himself in internal Krishna politics likely forced her hand on this." [Hawaii Free Press, 8/18/15] (video)
2019: Gabbard Told New York Times That Chris Butler’s Teachings Still Guided Her. According to The New York Times, "In a race with a lot of history-making candidates, Ms. Gabbard lays claim to many potential firsts — she would be the first female president, the first American Samoan, the first from Hawaii, the first surfer, the first vegan. She would also be the first Hindu. She was raised in part on the teachings of the guru Mr. Butler, who founded The Science of Identity Foundation, and whose work she said still guides her. ‘Muslims have imams, Christians have pastors, Hindus have gurus, so he’s essentially like a Vaishnava Hindu pastor,’ Ms. Gabbard said. ‘And he’s shared some really beautiful meditation practices with me that have provided me with strength and shelter and peace.’" [New York Times, 8/2/19]
Gabbard’s Aunt Alleged Tulsi’s Political Career Was Inspired By Chris Butler’s Efforts To Gain Political Influence Through Her. According to The Independent, "Sinavaiana Gabbard says her niece’s career is all about the pursuit of power, and her bid for the presidency in 2020 was the culmination of four decades of Butler’s efforts to seek political influence. […] But due to its outsize influence on Hawaiian politics, and possible future presidential candidate, Sinavaiana Gabbard said she felt it was important to speak out about the group - and her niece. ‘As a historian and lifelong student of eastern philosophies and religions, I find SIF’s role as uncritical cheerleader, if not patron and primary generator, of Tulsi’s checkered political agenda and intemperate, right wing associations to be troubling in the extreme." [Independent, 10/16/22]
Gabbard Defended Science Of Identity Foundation Leader Chris Butler After He Faced Allegations Of Being An Abusive Leader. According to Business Insider, "Another former member told New York Magazine that Butler was vulgar and vindictive, excoriating people for small slip-ups like driving poorly or failing to clean water cups properly. Butler has denied these claims, and Gabbard told the New Yorker that these experiences didn't chalk up to her own: ‘I've never heard him say anything hateful, or say anything mean about anybody,’ Gabbard said. ‘I can speak to my own personal experience and, frankly, my gratitude to him, for the gift of this wonderful spiritual practice that he has given to me, and to so many people." [Business Insider, 10/18/22]