2020 Democratic hopeful Tulsi Gabbard joins speaking roster at conservative CPAC event

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Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, once a champion of left-leaning causes like Medicare-for-All, gun control and campaign finance reform is now joining the roster of speakers at the Conservative Political Action Conference, better known as CPAC.

The announcement came on Monday and for many followers of Ms Gabbard’s career confirmed a perceived rightward shift that the former Hawaii congresswoman was accused of embarking on after leaving office.

CPAC’s roster in previous years has featured a wider range of conservative viewpoints but now is largely centred around politicians and figures seen as loyal or supportive of former President Donald Trump, thanks to the efforts of its pro-Trump chair, Matt Schlapp.

Ms Gabbard did not issue her own statement on Monday morning as the news was announced by CPAC and its various representatives.

She did issue a comment on Twitter regarding the ongoing state of tensions between the US and Russia over the latter’s military buildup near Ukraine, which the Biden administration has said is likely heading towards a Russian invasion of the country. Ms Gabbard is a veteran and was known for her anti-war stance during the 2020 Democratic primary, where she was largely overshadowed by bigger-name candidates such as Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren.

Despite finishing the race with zero delegates, Ms Gabbard did enjoy some national prominence during the race including after a confrontation with now-Vice President Kamala Harris over Ms Harris’s criminal justice policy record.

On Monday her tweets notably did include the claim that tensions in Ukraine were being ginned up by the US government to distract from the “failures” of Joe Biden’s administration.

“A Russia-US/Ukraine conflict will quickly go cyber with mutual attacks on communication/information assets, which will blind both sides to the other’s plans, actions & intentions, increasing the likelihood of miscalculation & misunderstanding, thereby drastically increasing the likelihood of the conflict going nuclear (accidentally or intentionally),” warned Ms Gabbard on Monday.

“And what for? To supposedly protect a ‘democracy’ that really isn’t a democracy; to distract from domestic failures/show how tough Biden is. Biden can prevent war, but I fear he lacks the courage to do so,” she tweeted.