Tulsi Gabbard drops out of 2020 election race

Hawaii congresswoman endorses Joe Biden as Democratic race narrows towards party nomination

Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has ended her 2020 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, among the last-standing candidates in the race aiming to make her long-shot bid for the White house.

She has endorsed Joe Biden, who has emerged as the likely nominee to face Donald Trump in November, in support of "his quest to bring our country together", she told supporters on Thursday.

Her withdrawal leaves just the former vice president and Bernie Sanders as the remaining contenders for the nomination after Ms Gabbard's disappointing finishes in early primary elections, in which she ultimately garnered just two delegates.

Though she supported the Vermont senator in his 2016 bid, she said the most-recent round of primary elections on Tuesday make it "clear" that voters have chosen Mr Biden as the party's nominee.

She said: "Although I may not agree with the vice president on every issue, I know he has a good heart ... I'm confident he will lead our country guided by the spirit of 'aloha,' respect and compassion, and thus help heal the divisiveness that has been tearing our country apart."

A series of controversies and remarks had singled out the Iraq War veteran from the field, from answering for past anti-LGBT+ stances and a 2017 meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to her clashes with Kamala Harris and former nominee Hillary Clinton, who labelled the congresswoman a "Russian asset" aiming to spoil the election to favour the incumbent. Ms Gabbard later sued her for defamation.

Ms Gabbard also frustrated fellow Democrats by marking herself "present" in the president's articles impeachment in Congress.

Among the youngest candidates in the 2020 race, the 38-year-old American Samoan had described herself as "the first Hindu to run for president and first practising Hindu" in Congress, shaping an unprecedented field of nominees.

She had not qualified for a Democratic debate since November, but she remained resolute on the trail, hoping to make dents in New Hampshire and Nevada, relying on her anti-interventionist foreign policy platform and criticism of the party's establishment she had hoped to root out with her candidacy.

Ms Gabbard previously had ruled out making a third-party run.

Instead, in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and its "unprecedented global crisis", she will "continue to work for the health and well-being of the people of Hawaii and our country in Congress and to stand ready to serve in uniform should the Hawaii National Guard be activated."