美国民主党总统竞选人、夏威夷州联邦众议员图尔西·加巴德19日宣布退出2020年大选的角逐，转而支持前副总统拜登。
资料图：美国民主党总统竞选人、前副总统拜登为竞选造势。中新社记者 陈孟统 摄
加巴德在截至目前的初选中表现糟糕，仅获得两个全国大会代表席位。作为党内最后一位女性竞选人，加巴德的退出让民主党总统提名战变成真正意义上的拜登和桑德斯之争。
拜登在17日佛罗里达等3州的初选中继续胜势，也让美国媒体开始猜测联邦参议员桑德斯是否会提前退选。
加巴德当天发表声明称，“在周二(17日)的初选之后，很明显，民主党选民已选择了拜登，他将在大选中与特朗普对决。”
加巴德2016年曾支持桑德斯竞选。她在声明中还向桑德斯及其竞选团队致以“最美好的祝愿”，并表示尊重桑德斯“改善所有美国人生活的真诚愿望”。
出生于1981年的加巴德是第一位信仰印度教的美国国会众议员，曾在科威特服役。相比于她的竞选主张，加巴德在一些争议话题上的表态更受媒体关注。她曾因在叙利亚问题上的表态而遭到质疑。竞选期间，她又因被称为“俄罗斯资产”，与希拉里·克林顿打起嘴仗。
美《国会山报》称，加巴德的政治前途尚不明朗，她已于去年宣布不会竞选连任国会众议员。(完)
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Gabbard drops out
The US Democratic presidential candidate, Hawaii congressman Tulsi gabard, announced on the 19th that he would withdraw from the 2020 election and support former Vice President Biden.
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Information chart: Biden, the former vice president and presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of the United States, made a great momentum for the campaign. Photo by Chen Meng, reporter of China News Agency
Gabad has so far been poor in the primary, with only two seats in the national assembly. As the last female candidate in the party, gabard's withdrawal turned the Democratic presidential nomination war into a real battle between Biden and Sanders.
Biden continued to win the primaries in Florida and other three states on the 17th, which also made the US media begin to speculate whether Senator Sanders will withdraw early.
"After Tuesday's primary, it's clear that Democratic voters have chosen Biden, who will face trump in the general election," gabard said in a statement on the same day
Gabard supported Sanders in 2016. In the statement, she also extended "best wishes" to Sanders and his campaign, and expressed respect for sanders "sincere desire to improve the lives of all Americans.".
Born in 1981, gabat was the first Hindu American congressman to serve in Kuwait. Compared with her campaign claims, Gabbard's statements on some controversial topics have attracted more media attention. She was questioned for her position on Syria. During the campaign, she fought with Hillary Clinton for what she called "Russian assets.".
According to the US Capitol Hill newspaper, gabad's political future is not clear, and she announced last year that she would not run for re-election to the house of Representatives. (end)
