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Gabbard Announces Resignation from DNC, Endorsement of Bernie Sanders

February 28, 2016

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D., Hawaii) announced on Meet the Press Sunday that she was resigning from her position as vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee to support Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) for president.

Chuck Todd teased the interview by saying Gabbard had been "at odds" with DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), who's been widely seen as part of a party effort to rig the Democratic primary process and ensure a victory for Hillary Clinton.

"I am resigning from the DNC so that I can support Bernie Sanders for president," Gabbard said. "I'd like to tell you why. As a veteran and as a soldier, I've seen firsthand the true cost of war. I served in a medical unit during my first deployment where every single day, I saw firsthand the very high human cost of that war."

Gabbard said there was a "necessity" to pick a president with foresight on foreign policy, an apparent dig at Clinton's tenure as secretary of state and her support for the Iraq War as a senator.

"I think it's most important for us as we look at our choices as to our next commander-in-chief will be is to recognize the necessity to have a commander-in-chief who has foresight, who exercises good judgment, who looks beyond the consequences, who looks at the consequences of the actions that they're looking to take before they take those actions so that we don't continue to find ourselves in these failures that have resulted in chaos in the Middle East and so much loss of life," Gabbard said.

Gabbard has shown tendencies to go against Democratic Party orthodoxy, criticizing the White House's foreign policy on multiple fronts, including aspects of the Iran nuclear deal.