The corporate media often speculates about my motives for running, as if it’s some kind of dark mystery. They struggle to understand how someone could make decisions, as I always do, based on principle and conviction — rather than political calculations or the so-called “horse race.”

I'm running for president to take the trillions of taxpayer dollars that we'll be spending on this new Cold War, and our longstanding counterproductive policy of carrying out regime change wars, and direct this precious treasure to meet the very real needs of the American people. This includes investing in protecting our country against pandemics like the novel coronavirus.

If we had not spent trillions of dollars on regime change wars, we could have invested in our healthcare system. But we didn’t. Our leaders were shortsighted, and thousands—possibly tens of thousands—of Americans will now suffer because of their shortsightedness.

I'll continue to do my best to share my message with the American people. With your help, I will continue to speak up regarding the necessity of bringing about a sea change in our foreign policy—and therefore, our domestic policy.

This is why I refuse to be silenced: Right now, the United States, Russia, and China have thousands of nuclear missiles aimed at one another.

Trump has continued a trend that began with the Bush Administration in systematically dismantling treaties that have helped prevent nuclear war. The safeguards that had been in place for decades are crumbling.

Where is the debate on these issues in the Democratic primary race? It still hasn’t happened. What will Joe Biden’s foreign policy be? What will Bernie Sanders’ foreign policy be? What advisors will they bring on and what are the agendas of those people? Their relationships with the powerful foreign policy establishment? We, the people deserve to know.

The powerful political and corporate media elites have done everything they can to undermine my candidacy since the day I announced. The false, malicious caricature they have presented is an insult to any standard of fairness and decency, and most of all to the voters themselves. So I will continue bringing my message directly to the people, and let them evaluate me for who I really am, without the mediation of warmongering propagandists.

My purpose in running for president has never been about self-promotion or self-aggrandizement. It's been to tell the American people what they need to hear — because all of our lives are depending on it.

Thank you for standing with me in this important fight for our future.

Tulsi Gabbard