Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D., Hawaii) is scheduling a protest outside the New Hampshire venue where
CNN is hosting town halls ahead of the state’s primary next week, after Gabbard was excluded from the two-night lineup — despite out-polling townhall guests Andrew Yang, Tom Steyer, and Deval Patrick in New Hampshire."This attempt to silence Tulsi is bigger than one person — it’s our right as voters to hear from ALL the candidates, and to have our voices represented. No institution should be allowed to get away with censoring democracy: That’s why we’re standing up to CNN on Wednesday, February 5th, demanding that our voices be heard," the Gabbard campaign told Fox News.Gabbard told the network last week that she had reached out about being excluded, but had not received a response.“We have reached out, I think, more than once, and we received no explanation. I don't even think we've gotten a response to date about why they're excluding the first female combat veteran ever to run for president, the only woman of color in the race," she said.Gabbard currently sits sixth in New Hampshire polling at 4.7 percent, while Yang polls at 3.7 percent, and Tom Steyer at 3.1 percent, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average.Patrick, who does not even register in the average, hit 0.4 percent in the most recent Boston Globe/Suffolk University New Hampshire poll.Gabbard has voiced public criticism over CNN’s treatment of her campaign, and slammed the news network during the October debate after a CNN analyst called her a
Russian asset.“The New York Times and CNN have also smeared veterans like myself for calling to an end to this regime-change war,” Gabbard told the crowd in Ohio. “ . . . This morning a CNN commentator said on national television that I’m an asset of Russia. Completely despicable.”