Rep. Tulsi Gabbard announced Friday she will run for president in 2020, becoming the latest Democrat to enter what is shaping up to be a crowded primary field. Gabbard, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, has represented Hawaii in the House of Representatives since 2013. She sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she has staked out a position as one of the most vocal non-interventionists in Congress. "There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision," Gabbard told CNN's Van Jones during an interview set to air at 7 p.m. ET Saturday. "There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I'm concerned about and that I want to help solve." "There is one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace," Gabbard added. "I look forward to being able to get into this and to talk about it in depth when we make our announcement." Gabbard, 37, is widely known for her unorthodox positions within the Democratic caucus. She was one of the few lawmakers to back Sen. Bernie Sanders' insurgent candidate against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary. Gabbard also faced intense criticism, including from members of her own party, for meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a trip to Syria in 2017. Some foreign policy commentators accused Gabbard of legitimizing Assad, who has been accused of war crimes against civilians, but she defended the meeting as an opportunity to discuss bringing an end to Syria's seven-year civil war. "When the opportunity arose to meet with him, I did so because I felt it's important that if we profess to truly care about the Syrian people, about their suffering, then we've got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there is a possibility that we could achieve peace, and that's exactly what we talked about," Gabbard told CNN's Jake Tapper in January 2017. More recently, Gabbard stirred controversy among fellow Democrats when she issued a statement accusing some of them of "religious bigotry" for questioning whether a judicial nominee's membership in a Catholic fraternal organization would affect his ability to apply the law. Though she didn't call out any lawmakers by name, Gabbard's statement was likely referring to Democratic Sens. Mazie Hirono and Kamala Harris, who aggressively questioned the nominee, Brian Buescher, about his religious beliefs. Gabbard joins a growing contingent of Democrats looking to unseat President Donald Trump. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced on New Year's Eve that she was forming an exploratory committee for a potential run, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro did the same earlier this week. Other prominent Democrats seen as potential candidates include Harris, Sanders, Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and former Vice President Joe Biden.<doc-sep>Well, it looks like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Washington Governor Jay Inslee have company. Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard announced she’s running for president (via Politico): Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said Friday that she is running for president. “I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week,” she said during an interview on CNN's "The Van Jones Show." Gabbard, a 37-year old combat veteran, has done little to hide her presidential ambitions. She recently made stops in both Iowa and New Hampshire and looked into hiring digital staff and speechwriters. She has also authored a memoir set to be released in May. Warren was the first to make her 2020 intentions known. Inslee reportedly thinks he can win on global warming. Former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who also served as HUD secretary under Obama, is likely to run as well. Oh, and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) has been making the stops and releases a book ahead of her expected 2020 announcement. Gabbard made some noise shooting inside the ship when she accused fellow Hawaii Democrat Mazie Hirono, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, of anti-Catholic bigotry: Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is criticizing a fellow Hawaii Democrat, Sen. Mazie Hirono, for her aggressive questioning of a Trump administration judicial nominee over his membership in a fraternal Catholic charitable organization. In a Hill op-ed published Tuesday, Gabbard warned against “religious bigotry” in considering the nomination of U.S. District Court judge nominee Brian Buescher. At a Dec. 21 hearing, Hirono and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., questioned whether Buescher could rule impartially on issues related to abortion and same-sex marriage, which the Knights of Columbus has taken public stands on. “While I oppose the nomination of Brian Buescher to the U.S. District Court in Nebraska, I stand strongly against those who are fomenting religious bigotry, citing as disqualifiers Buescher’s Catholicism and his affiliation with the Knights of Columbus,” wrote Gabbard, a potential 2020 presidential candidate. Oh, you can already see that the 2020 Democratic primaries are going to be insane.<doc-sep>Another Democrat is jumping into the quickly forming 2020 Democratic presidential primary contest. Hawaii Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said in an interview on Friday that she has decided to run for the White House and will be make a formal announcement over the next week. "There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision,” Gabbard told CNN. “There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I'm concerned about and that I want to help solve.” She also tweeted to announce the launch of a campaign website, https://www.tulsi2020.com. Gabbard, 37, was elected in 2012. She was a major in the Hawaii Army National Guard and served two tours of duty in the Middle East. She has visited early primary and caucus states New Hampshire and Iowa in recent months and has written a memoir that's due to be published in May. GABBARD ACCUSES FELLOW DEMS OF STOKING ‘BIGOTRY’ Gabbard first emerged on the national stage as one of the few lawmakers in Washington to back Bernie Sanders' underdog candidacy in 2016 against Hillary Clinton during the last presidential primary campaign. Her endorsement came in dramatic fashion, with her resigning as a vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee to express her support. Indeed, Gabbard has rankled some in her party for her unorthodox moves. After Donald Trump was elected, she met with the then president-elect to discuss the war in Syria. Last year, Gabbard came under intense criticism -- including from some Democrats - for traveling to that country and meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose government lawmakers have accused of war crimes and even genocide during that country's brutal civil war. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Gabbard has also made headlines for referring to President Trump as "Saudi Arabia's b----," after the president argued for the importance of a strong U.S-Saudi relationship amid calls for him to take a tougher stance on the kingdom in response to the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi. Republicans wasted no time Friday in going after her. “Tulsi Gabbard has an even bigger problem than her lack of experience – it’s that she has no base of support,” Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens said. “Liberals think she’s too conservative, conservatives think she’s too liberal, and just about everyone thinks her coziness with Bashar al-Assad is disturbing.” In recent weeks, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro have both announced exploratory committees. Gabbard would likely fight for attention in the race with other big names in the party, like former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and California Sen. Kamala Harris. Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney has already announced a campaign. Fox News’ Amy Lieu and The Associated Press contributed to this report.<doc-sep>Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), an Iraq War veteran who made history in 2012 as the first Hindu elected to Congress, said Friday she will run for president in 2020. “I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week,” Gabbard told CNN’s Van Jones during an interview to air Saturday. “There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision. There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I’m concerned about and that I want to help solve.” Tulsi, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said her campaign platform will address health care, climate change, and criminal justice reform. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard says she will run for president in 2020. "I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week," the Hawaii Democrat and Iraq War veteran told CNN's @VanJones68 https://t.co/5BzVi2JMFq pic.twitter.com/nNNmGCED5C — CNN (@CNN) January 11, 2019 “There is one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace,” she continued. “I look forward to being able to get into this and to talk about it in depth when we make our announcement.” Gabbard’s announcement comes after the progressive congresswoman was the headline speaker at a December meet-and-greet with Democrat activists in Exeter, New Hampshire, where she told local reporters that a White House bid was on the table. “I’m seriously thinking of how I can best be of service to our country,” she told Concord Monitor News reporter Paul Steinhauser before meeting with Rockingham County Democrats. She endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for president in 2016. In November, the Hawaii Democrat garnered headlines for criticizing President Donald Trump’s decision not to further punish Saudi Arabia over the murder of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi. “It could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event,” President Trump said of the killing. “Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.” In response, Gabbard wrote on Twitter that “being Saudi Arabia’s bitch is not ‘America First.’” A staunch anti-war voice in Congress, Gabbard has called for the U.S. to halt further involvement in Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen, describing the civil war as a humanitarian crisis. “It is long overdue that we end U.S. complicity in Saudi Arabia’s atrocities,” Gabbard said of the hot button issue. “We must end all U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s genocidal war in Yemen now.” Last year, Gabbard came under fire for an impromptu meeting with Syrian President Bashar Hafez al-Assad during what she described as a fact-finding trip to discuss possible solutions to end the war in Syria. Gabbard enters a 2020 Democrat primary field which will likely go into double-digits. On New Year’s Eve, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was the first serious Democrat presidential contender to launch a White House exploratory committee. Former Vice President Joe Biden and former Rep. Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke (D-TX) are also reportedly considering running for president. Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens dismissed Gabbard’s White House announcement, saying that the Hawaii Democrat has no voter base. “Tulsi Gabbard has an even bigger problem than her lack of experience – it’s that she has no base of support. Liberals think she’s too conservative, conservatives think she’s too liberal, and just about everyone thinks her coziness with Bashar al-Assad is disturbing,” said Ahrens.<doc-sep>
Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the first American-Samoan elected to Congress. WASHINGTON – Democrat Tulsi Gabbard announced on Friday that she would run for president in 2020, entering what is expected to be a crowded field of liberal contenders. "I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week," the Hawaii congresswoman said on CNN in an interview that's slated to air tonight on "The Van Jones Show." Gabbard, 37, was elected in 2012, becoming the first Hindu member of Congress. She served in Iraq and sits on the House Armed Services Committee as well as the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She previously served as the vice-chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee but resigned to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders during the 2016 campaign. "There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision. There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I'm concerned about and that I want to help solve," she said, according to CNN. Gabbard was criticized in 2016 for traveling to Syria and meeting with President Bashar Assad, who has been accused of war crimes. She says it's important to meet with adversaries if "you are serious about pursuing peace." The Republican National Committee, shortly after Gabbard's announcement, sent out a "cheat sheet" attacking the meeting and her bid for the White House. Already, the pool of Democrats looking to take on President Donald Trump in 2020 is getting crowded. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., announced the start of an exploratory committee to run for president and held rallies in Iowa last week to talk with voters in the state that's the first to vote in the presidential primary. Julian Castro, Barack Obama's former Housing chief, is expected to announce his 2020 bid on Saturday in Texas. Others, including former vice president Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Kamala Harris and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke are also said to be considering a White House run in 2020.