Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii Democrat, is expected to deliver remarks this week at the Conservative Political Action Conference, American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp announced Monday.
Ms. Gabbard, who ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, will address conservative attendees at the yearly conference’s Ronald Reagan Dinner Saturday night.
The three-term congressional lawmaker has a 20-year political career that reaches back to her time as a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives as the youngest person elected to public office in the state’s history. During that time, she was deployed to the Middle East as a Hawaii Army National Guard member.
She is best known for angering the establishment of her party. In 2016, she resigned as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee to endorse Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the party establishment’s preferred nominee, for the Democratic presidential primary.
Since that time, she has publicly bucked her party or supported the GOP on issues including foreign policy and social media censorship.
Most recently, Ms. Gabbard was critical of President Biden for his rhetoric about election laws in Georgia as “racist” and his handling of escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
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CPAC is scheduled to start Thursday in Orlando, Florida.
Other marquee speakers expected to talk to the attendees are former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Each is eyed as a possible 2024 GOP nominee for president.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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