Tulsi Gabbard, former US Congresswoman, has officially endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. She has been a prominent figure in US politics, and her status has helped elevate Hindu representation on the national political stage. When she first ran for Congress from her home state of Hawaii, David “Kawika” Crowley, her Republican opponent, ridiculed her for subscribing to a religion that “doesn’t align with the constitutional foundation of the U.S. government.”
However, a month later, Gabbard became the first—and only—practising Hindu ever elected to Congress.
She symbolised Hindu pride in the US, taking the Oath of Office on her copy of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most sacred and prominent Hindu texts. In an official press statement in 2013, she said, "My Gita has been a tremendous source of inner peace and strength through many tough challenges in life, including being in the midst of death and turmoil while serving our country in the Middle East. When I was deployed to Iraq, the only real shelter for me was my bhakti yoga practice and the Bhagavad Gita’s message of the eternality of the soul and God’s unconditional love."
Gabbard isn’t what we typically assume most Hindus to be—from India or of Indian origin. She was born in American Samoa and raised in Hawaii by a Catholic father and a practising Hindu mother.
Gabbard is affiliated with a branch of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism, which is related to the Hare Krishna Movement in the West. During a Presidential Town Hall in 2019, she explained the Gaudiya Vaishnava branch of Hinduism when asked, “Can you describe your faith as it relates to the Hare Krishna tradition?” To this, she responded, “The teachings and practices that I live in my everyday life, and that are taught not only by my teachers but their teachers before them, involve the practice of what is called Bhakti Yoga and Karma Yoga. Bhakti Yoga is developing a loving relationship with God. It’s a very deeply personal relationship. And Karma Yoga is about how I can dedicate my energy, skills, and time to the service of others, and there are so many ways we can do that.”