Talk:Tulsi Gabbard

Skip to table of contents

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Tulsi Gabbard article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7: 180 days

Warning: active arbitration remedies

The contentious topics procedure applies to this article. This article is related to post-1992 politics of the United States and closely related people, which is a contentious topic. Furthermore, the following rules apply when editing this article:

You must follow the bold-revert-discuss cycle if your change is reverted. You may not reinstate your edit until you post a talk page message discussing your edit and have waited 24 hours from the time of this talk page message

Editors who repeatedly or seriously fail to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behaviour, or any normal editorial process may be blocked or restricted by an administrator. Editors are advised to familiarise themselves with the contentious topics procedures before editing this page.

Further information

Enforcement procedures:

Violations of any of these restrictions should be reported immediately to the arbitration enforcement noticeboard.
Editors who are aware of this topic being designated a contentious topic and who violate these restrictions may be sanctioned by any uninvolved administrator, even on a first offense.

The contentious topics procedure can be used against any editor who repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behaviour, or any normal editorial process. Contentious topics sanctions can include blocks, topic-bans, or other restrictions.

If you are unsure if your edit is appropriate, discuss it here on this talk page first. Remember: When in doubt, don't revert!

This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to this noticeboard.

This page is about a politician who is running for office or has recently run for office, is in office and campaigning for re-election, or is involved in some current political conflict or controversy. For that reason, this article is at increased risk of biased editing, talk-page trolling, and simple vandalism.

If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see this help page.

Biography: Politics and Government

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
	This article is supported by the politics and government work group (assessed as High-importance).

Elections and Referendums

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Elections and Referendums, an ongoing effort to improve the quality of, expand upon and create new articles relating to elections, electoral reform and other aspects of democratic decision-making. For more information, visit our project page.Elections and ReferendumsWikipedia:WikiProject Elections and ReferendumsTemplate:WikiProject Elections and ReferendumsElections and Referendums articles

Hawaii High‑importance

	Hawaii portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Hawaii, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Hawaii on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.HawaiiWikipedia:WikiProject HawaiiTemplate:WikiProject HawaiiHawaii articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Hinduism Low‑importance

	Hinduism portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Hinduism, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Hinduism on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.HinduismWikipedia:WikiProject HinduismTemplate:WikiProject HinduismHinduism articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Military history: Logistics / Middle East / North America / United States / Post-Cold War

This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles

This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
Referencing and citation: criterion met Coverage and accuracy: criterion met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion met

Associated task forces:
/
	Military logistics and medicine task force
	Middle Eastern military history task force
	North American military history task force
	United States military history task force
	Post-Cold War task force

Politics: American Mid‑importance

	Politics portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Politics, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of politics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PoliticsWikipedia:WikiProject PoliticsTemplate:WikiProject Politicspolitics articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by American politics task force (assessed as High-importance).

United States: Presidential elections / State Legislatures Low‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject U.S. presidential elections (assessed as Mid-importance).
	This article is supported by WikiProject U.S. State Legislatures (assessed as Low-importance).

U.S. Congress Mid‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject U.S. Congress, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the United States Congress on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.U.S. CongressWikipedia:WikiProject U.S. CongressTemplate:WikiProject U.S. CongressU.S. Congress articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is about one (or many) Person(s).

Veganism and Vegetarianism Mid‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Veganism and Vegetarianism, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of veganism and vegetarianism on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Veganism and VegetarianismWikipedia:WikiProject Veganism and VegetarianismTemplate:WikiProject Veganism and VegetarianismVeganism and Vegetarianism articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Polynesia: American Samoa Low‑importance

	Oceania portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Polynesia, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Polynesia on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PolynesiaWikipedia:WikiProject PolynesiaTemplate:WikiProject PolynesiaPolynesia articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by the American Samoa work group (assessed as Low-importance).

Women

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Women, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of women on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.WomenWikipedia:WikiProject WomenTemplate:WikiProject WomenWikiProject Women articles

This article has been viewed enough times in a single week to appear in the Top 25 Report 4 times. The weeks in which this happened:

This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (color, defense, traveled) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

Please stay calm and civil while commenting or presenting evidence, and do not make personal attacks. Be patient when approaching solutions to any issues. If consensus is not reached, other solutions exist to draw attention and ensure that more editors mediate or comment on the dispute.

The subject of this article is controversial and content may be in dispute. When updating the article, be bold, but not reckless. Feel free to try to improve the article, but don't take it personally if your changes are reversed; instead, come here to the talk page to discuss them. Content must be written from a neutral point of view. Include citations when adding content and consider tagging or removing unsourced information.

This page is not a forum for general discussion about Tulsi Gabbard. Any such comments may be removed or refactored. Please limit discussion to improvement of this article. You may wish to ask factual questions about Tulsi Gabbard at the Reference desk.

There have been attempts to recruit editors of specific viewpoints to this article. If you've come here in response to such recruitment, please review the relevant Wikipedia policy on recruitment of editors, as well as the neutral point of view policy. Disputes on Wikipedia are resolved by consensus, not by majority vote.

This article has been mentioned by multiple media organizations:

Chang, Alvin (June 27, 2019). "Curiosity about Tulsi Gabbard spiked during last night's debate. And it was already simmering leading up to it". Vox. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
Daisuke Wakabayashi (July 25, 2019). "Tulsi Gabbard, Democratic Presidential Candidate, Sues Google for $50 Million". New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2019.

Individuals with a conflict of interest, particularly those representing the subject of the article, are strongly advised not to directly edit the article. See Wikipedia:Conflict of interest. You may request corrections or suggest content here on the Talk page for independent editors to review, or contact us if the issue is urgent.

Why does this article say that she’s a Democrat if she supports conservative ideology?

Why does this article say that she’s a Democrat if she supports conservative ideology? 71.114.123.162 (talk) 08:03, 2 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The article says she left the Democratic Party. TFD (talk) 14:36, 2 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Can we get rid of the Conservative designation for someone who has a Liberal Ideology? ^[1] 23.122.176.75 (talk) 21:35, 23 January 2024 (UTC) ObviousGuy 14:36, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

She is both. People can be both. 176.223.172.2 (talk) 14:09, 1 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ (74th percentile) GovTract.us

Lead section redundancies

There is mention in the first lead paragraph about her leaving the Democratic party and becoming an Independent as well as another mention of it in the final lead section paragraph. I am thinking about trying to consolidate it to just one occurrence/mention for the lead as it isn't really necessary for repeated information in the lead. Should be more concise. Any editors object or have any other thoughts on how to handle? I'm not thinking about removing all the content in the later mention but maybe just eliminating the fact it mentions she leaves the Democratic party in October 2022. Eruditess (talk) 21:10, 28 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Marking as

Done as a nice editor carried this request out. -Eruditess (talk) 17:32, 1 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 21 March 2024

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

This sentence is poorly written and easily misunderstood...X:

"During her term of office, Gabbard successfully led opposition to, and protests of, a state bill that would have legalized same-sex civil unions,"

Change to something something like...Y:

During her term of office, Gabbard successfully led opposition and protests to a state bill that would have legalized same-sex civil unions. 2403:6200:8810:9F7E:6C73:5833:52F2:32C4 (talk) 00:56, 21 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Done. A. Randomdude0000 (talk) 01:14, 21 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Vegetarian not Vegan

Tulsi has described herself as Vegetarian, and not Vegan, as correctly reported by New Yorker and Indo-American https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/06/what-does-tulsi-gabbard-believe https://archive.ph/20121105052532/http://www.indoamerican-news.com/archives/12109 The NY Times article "Tulasi thinks we are doomed" claiming her as Vegan, was an article written in bad taste with an attacking negative tone, and potentially libelous claims, and does not mention primary source for "Vegan" claim.

Hence it is violation of WP:BLP to refer her as Vegan, when she has never called herself Vegan. It should be Vegetarian and not Vegan. I can provide more WP:RS sources for Vegetarian, if any editor wants. Thanks. RogerYg (talk) 10:33, 22 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi User:Jonathan Deamer, I only want to replace Vegan with Vegetarian, to comply with WP:BLP. I don't have an issue with any other content for now. I was going to add Vegetarian with New Yorker reference, just before your revert. Thanks. RogerYg (talk) 10:36, 22 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Ah I see, thanks for explaining RE: other content (ie. American Samoan)! And for the helpful New Yorker link.

Which bit of Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons specifically do you think this doesn't comply with? I don't think stating someone is vegan is contentious, especially when supported by an RS like NY Times.

To ensure NPOV, how about something like the following for the first couple of sentences of the personal life section?

Gabbard is an American Samoan from Hawaii. She is a surfer, and has been described variously as a vegan^[1] and vegetarian^[2]. Jonathan Deamer (talk) 10:50, 22 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Reliability of news outlets does not extend to analysis of news, per Wikipedia:NEWSORG. TFD (talk) 03:49, 24 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

New Yorker: "She is also a vegetarian and a practicing Hindu—the first Hindu ever elected to Congress—as well as a lifelong surfer and an accomplished athlete." ^[3]

When I read through the cited links here on the talk page and I google "Tulsi Gabbard vegan", they all seem to fall under the same situation. The article labels her a vegan, but her actual quoted interview she calls herself vegetarian. She doesn't seem to refer to herself as a vegan. She just says she doesn't eat animals. Which might mean she drinks milk or uses leather. I suppose it doesn't really matter because we juts report what these sources say. However, I wouldn't mind if we stripped vegan from the lead. Eruditess (talk) 04:02, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Agree with that. We need to replace Vegan with Vegetarian as per WP:BLP and WP:RS RogerYg (talk) 06:58, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Eruditess I couldn't find "vegan" in the lead, but if it's there I think it's fair to remove and keep coverage to the personal life section (especially given due weight, below).

@RogerYg Rather than replace, I suggest as per Wikipedia:Verifiability we include both: "If reliable sources disagree with each other, then maintain a neutral point of view and present what the various sources say, giving each side its due weight." On the basis of due weight, further to my suggestion above, perhaps something like "Gabbard is vegetarian, and also reported as being vegan." Jonathan Deamer (talk) 07:04, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, agree with the broad consensus, noting that as per WP:BLP self-reported info is Vegetarian, which should get priority, but we can mention Vegan too. RogerYg (talk) 07:15, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Done RogerYg (talk) 07:46, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the helpful discussion and the resulting edit! Jonathan Deamer (talk) 07:55, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Bowles, Nellie (August 2, 2019). "Tulsi Gabbard Thinks We're Doomed". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved September 21, 2019. Ms. Gabbard … would be the first female president, the first American Samoan, the first from Hawaii, the first surfer, the first vegan.
^ Sanneh, Kelefa (2017-10-30). "What Does Tulsi Gabbard Believe?". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
^ Sanneh, Kelefa (October 30, 2017). "What Does Tulsi Gabbard Believe?". New Yorker. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2019.

I am happy with consensus, I suppose if the interviewer asked Gabbard if she was a vegan, and she responds without correcting them, then its probably accurate by omission. If that is such a thing. Eruditess (talk) 00:57, 25 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

mother's religion

Regarding the revision of of 19:52, 2 March 2024, raising the issue as to whether Gabbard's mother was a practicing Hindu and if this was the reason for naming her daughter Tulsi, this story in Times of India states

She [Tulsi] inherited her interest in Hinduism from her parents, particularly her mother ...

supporting the claim that the mother gave her children Hindu names based on her own interest in the Hindu religion. Was the mother actually practicing Hindu from the date of birth of her first child? While giving her children Hindu names might suggest that, such a claim was not actually made. Fabrickator (talk) 07:25, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

AGREE that it is relevant to mention her mother became interested in Hinduism and gave Hindu names to her children. And, it's supported by TOI & Indo-american sources, and broadly supported by New Yorker

NewYorker: Tulsi Gabbard’s name reflects the family’s pre-existing spiritual commitments. RogerYg (talk) 10:20, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Also, Gabbard's mother becoming a practising Hindu is supported by multiple sources

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/20929142/the-gabbards-raising-hawaiis-next-political-star-5pm

https://www.pacificedgemagazine.com/leadership/who-is-tulsi-gabbard/ These were arbitrarily deleted without any discussion and need to be restored, though some details may be moved to "Personal Life" section. RogerYg (talk) 02:40, 24 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Done RogerYg (talk) 02:46, 24 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@RogerYg: Thanks so much for picking up on this. I had actually had the talk page edits sitting in my browser cache since March 4 (obviously I got distracted and just never got back to it). And it's really great to have the issue resolved, with somebody else picking up the detail work! Fabrickator (talk) 05:32, 24 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Misleading sentence about imigration

"Gabbard has expressed support for increased border security and voted with Republicans for vetting of Iraqi and Syrian refugees."

When I first read this, I interpreted is as saying that Gibbard went against her own party to support a Republican bill. But when I checked out the source, it turns out that this was a bipartican bill on which she voted yes along with 47 of her Democratic colleagues, and which only a small minority of her party opposed. I think this should be edited to avoid confusion. 2001:2020:C313:D2B8:0:0:56:B066 (talk) 13:02, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Done, thank you for bringing this to the talk page. Eruditess (talk) 05:13, 12 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 30 May 2024

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

I would remove Footnote 25 and put "source needed." Cited article about Trump's potential Vice Presidential Selections does not even mention Gabbard and s not a source to back up the assertion. 134.197.135.158 (talk) 05:20, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Done Statement removed. ABG (Talk/Report any mistakes here) 05:54, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Should this be included?

A close relative has just died in a shooting.

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/06/01/prominent-gabbard-family-mourns-retired-uh-professor-writer-murdered-samoa/ 176.223.172.2 (talk) 14:10, 1 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Only if it becomes relevant to her niece's biography. (I don't think it was a shooting btw.) TFD (talk) 23:01, 1 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Misleading statement about ancestry/ethnicity

The article states: “Gabbard, who is of Samoan descent and 26% Southeast Asian”. However Gabbard herself has clarified repeatedly that she is of European and Samoan descent, with her parents being mostly European. The southeast asian reference relates to genetic studies showing that Samoans migrated from southeast Asia long in the past. This would be like saying an American native was of Chinese descent; perhaps technically true if considering ice age migration and genetic similarities, but completely misleading in regards to direct ancestry and cultural heritage. The statement is also redundant in that the southeast asian genetics refers to her Samoan heritage, and omits her majority European heritage. The statement should be changed to “Gabbard, who is of European and Samoan descent”. References could be updated to the 2012 Huffington Post article and/or campaign website where she clearly states her European and Samoan ancestry. 2601:600:8E00:666F:8C4D:40FA:39B7:A64F (talk) 06:58, 14 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. The category "Southeast Asian" in the genetic test included Samoans. The genealogical research found no Southeast Asian ancestry other than Samoans. We should therefore only mention European and Samoan ancestry.

This was discussed before btw. TFD (talk) 13:10, 14 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 26 August 2024

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Add a line at the end of the opening description about Tulsi that states that after identifying as an "Independent," she has now become a supporter of Donald Trump and is helping prepare him for the Presidential debates. 2603:7000:9340:DCFC:5052:4415:7D18:1722 (talk) 15:29, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. MadGuy7023 (talk) 16:01, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Also note that the "Departure from the Democratic party" section goes into (well sourced) detail how she became a Trump supporter. It's just not necessarily worthy of the lead. --GRuban (talk) 16:34, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Frame of Reference

"Gabbard has taken more conservative positions on issues such as abortion, foreign policy, transgender rights, and border security."

I don't doubt that there are sources that can support this, however I am concerned that the statement doesn't accept the possibility that the opposite could be true. What if her positions have been quite consistent, but her former party moved away from them?

~~The wording is quite strongly critical, yet~~ it might not be that Gabbard actually changed her position much, given the political changes that have happened around her. SkepticNotCynic (talk) 20:13, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The wording of that sentence is factual. It is only critical if you dislike conservative positions and interpret it as criticism. – Muboshgu (talk) 20:36, 26 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, @Muboshgu. I agree that my comment about the statement being critical was irrelevant to the main point, so I have applied a strikethrough to that part of the sentence.

Regarding the discussion, it seems reasonable to claim that Gabbard's positions align more with conservative views on some issues than with the current views of her former party. However:

Abortion: Abortion is not mentioned in the body of the article, yet the claim of a shift in position since January 2021 is in the lede. Gabbard's recent support for third-trimester restrictions does not represent a new conservative shift. For example she supported the "Born Alive" bill in 2020.
Foreign Policy: The Foreign Affairs section of the article does not support the idea that she changed positions since January 2021. Gabbard's critiques are consistent with her long-standing non-interventionist stance on foreign policy.
Transgender Rights: The "Protect Women's Sports Act" was introduced in 2020 as the article clearly states. Gabbard began her career supporting "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and has since moved towards supporting LGBT+ rights though not as far as her former party, particularly on issues like transwomen in sports.
Border Security: Gabbard has supported stronger border security measures for years, which aligns with her consistent approach rather than a shift in position since January 2021.

Her views seem to have remained quite consistent while the political landscape around her has shifted. It might be misleading to claim that she has recently adopted more conservative positions on these issues, a claim that the article as a whole does not seem to support. SkepticNotCynic (talk) 08:24, 27 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 28 August 2024

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

You have her listed as conservative. She is not conservative. She left the Democratic Party because she believes they are going to start a world nuclear war. She is in fact left of center and liberal on almost all her policies she supports. She should be changed from conservative to liberal or at least moderate. She is in no way conservative 2601:982:300:3100:F8A9:DA66:B16F:15E9 (talk) 12:14, 28 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. MadGuy7023 (talk) 15:04, 28 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

[1] (74th percentile) GovTract.us

[2] Bowles, Nellie (August 2, 2019). "Tulsi Gabbard Thinks We're Doomed". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved September 21, 2019. Ms. Gabbard … would be the first female president, the first American Samoan, the first from Hawaii, the first surfer, the first vegan.

[3] Sanneh, Kelefa (2017-10-30). "What Does Tulsi Gabbard Believe?". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2024-03-22.

[Sanneh-4] Sanneh, Kelefa (October 30, 2017). "What Does Tulsi Gabbard Believe?". New Yorker. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2019.

[1]

[1]

[2]

[3]