THE WORLD TODAY

Clinton feud candidate stands aside

HAWAII congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has suspended her presidential campaign. The move ends a longshot effort that saw her feuding with Hillary Clinton and raising fears among Democrats that she would mount a third-party 2020 bid.

She is offering her full support to former vice-president Joe Biden. Gabbard said: “I feel that the best way I can be of service at this time is to continue to work for the health and wellbeing 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.”

During her candidacy, Gabbard appeared often on the Fox News Channel and angered fellow Democrats by voting “present” on the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.

In October, she announced she would not be seeking re-election to her congressional seat, instead focusing on her presidential bid. Gabbard attracted a sizeable following in New Hampshire, where she campaigned frequently ahead of the state’s February primary. The 38-year-old American Samoan’s campaign website described her as “the first Hindu to run for president and first practising Hindu in Congress”.

Gabbard’s decision to run became public shortly after a public feud with Clinton. In a podcast interview, Clinton appeared to call her “the favourite of the Russians” and said she believed Republicans were “grooming Gabbard as a third-party candidate”.

Gabbard called Clinton the “personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long” and in January filed a defamation lawsuit against Clinton, saying her comments were based on either her own imagination or “extremely dubious conspiracy theories”.