Tulsi Gabbard drops threat to boycott the 4th Democratic debate

Tulsi Gabbard
(Image credit: Scott Eisen / Getty Images)

After briefly threatening to boycott tomorrow's Democratic debate, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) will be there after all.

The Hawaii Democrat announced in a three-sentence email Monday morning that "I will be attending the debate," which is set for Oct. 15. It's the first Democratic debate Gabbard has qualified for since July, having not been on the stage in September. She also confirmed her decision in a six word tweet.

Gabbard in a video last week announced she was "seriously considering" boycotting the Tuesday debate, claiming the Democratic National Committee and "corporate media" are "rigging the election" and slamming the "polling and other arbitrary methods" used to determine which candidates qualify for the debates. For tomorrow's event, candidates needed to reach two percent support in four qualifying polls and have at least 130,000 unique donors.

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In her video, Gabbard also complained that the debates are "really not debates at all" and instead "commercialized reality television meant to entertain rather than to inform or enlighten." She may very well use the debate platform tomorrow to voice these concerns, although she offered no information Monday about what went into her decision. Gabbard has not yet qualified for the next debate, which is scheduled for Nov. 20.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.