Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) holds a Town Hall meeting on Super Tuesday Primary night on March 3, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is suspending her presidential campaign, ending a long-shot effort that saw her feuding with Hillary Clinton and raising fears among Democrats that she would mount a third-party 2020 bid.
She's offering her full support to former Vice President Joe Biden. She made the announcement by email on Thursday.
During her candidacy, Gabbard appeared often on Fox News and angered fellow Democrats by voting “present” on the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. In October, she announced she wouldn't be seeking reelection to her congressional seat, instead, focusing on her presidential bid.
Gabbard attracted a sizable following in New Hampshire, where she frequently campaigned ahead of the state’s February primary. Some past supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the state warmed to her campaign over time, and she espoused a similar outsider approach to Sanders' 2016 run, which Gabbard supported.
She was also part of what once was a historically diverse Democratic field. The 38-year-old American Samoan’s campaign website described her as “the first Hindu to run for president and first practicing Hindu in Congress.” And as one of the youngest candidates in the field and a military veteran, Gabbard outlasted senators and governors who came into the large Democratic primary race with higher profiles.
Yet Gabbard’s 2020 campaign was also quick to attract questions from voters. The Hawaii congresswoman has faced backlash for her 2017 meeting in Syria with Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose government has been accused of chemical weapons attacks against its own citizens.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is projected to keep his job. Around two-thirds of the votes have been reported, and roughly 64% of those votes are in favor of keeping Newsom as their governor.
Daniel Strauss, senior political correspondent at The New Republic, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more about what Newsom's win means to both political parties moving into Midterm elections season.
The Department of Justice is suing Texas over the state's new abortion law that prohibits abortions after six weeks, well before many women even know they're pregnant. The lawsuit argues the law is unconstitutional under long-standing Supreme Court precedent. It was filed last week in federal court in Texas, but could go all the way to the high court within weeks. Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, discusses the DOJ lawsuit and what it could mean for other abortion laws across the country.
26 states have now fully vaccinated more than half of their population with Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts fully vaccinating at least two-thirds of their residents. These three states are among the ones with the lowest new Covid-19 cases per capita, but in states with low vaccination rates, hospitals are filling up again.
Dr. Rob Davidson, ER doctor and executive director of Committee to Protect Health Care, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more.
