Tulsi Gabbard Faith: ‘I believed she was a proud Hindu’: Mehdi Hasan questions if Tulsi Gabbard ‘transformed to Christianity’ after Cupboard prayer

A pre-State of the Union prayer has raised questions on Tulsi Gabbard’s religion after British journalist Mehdi Hasan questioned the Trump aide on her faith.Hasan wrote on X, “I’m confused. Did Gabbard convert to Christianity? I believed she was a proud Hindu.”The remark got here after Gabbard shared a put up about participating in a ‘Christian’ prayer earlier than the President’s speech to Congress this week.She wrote: “The quiet moments are sometimes an important. Final evening simply earlier than Cupboard members walked onto the Home ground for the President’s State of the Union, we joined collectively in prayer, giving all thanks and reward to God, and praying for the readability and power to hearken to Him, serve Him, and do His will.”The put up included {a photograph} exhibiting Gabbard and different Cupboard members gathered with heads bowed in prayer shortly earlier than coming into the Home chamber. The setting seemed to be a personal room or hallway inside or close to the US Capitol, used for preparation forward of the occasion. It was not a spiritual venue.The prayer befell earlier than US President Donald Trump delivered the 2026 State of the Union Handle to a joint session of the 119th US Congress within the Home Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC. The speech lasted about one hour and 48 minutes, making it the longest State of the Union deal with in US historical past. Trump addressed the economic system, immigration, commerce and nationwide safety, and recognised a number of people, together with athletes and navy personnel.Gabbard has lengthy publicly recognized as Hindu. She was born on April 12, 1981, in Leloaloa, American Samoa, and raised in Hawaii. She later adopted the Gaudiya Vaishnava custom of Hinduism. She practices Vaishnavism, a department of Hinduism centred on devotion to Vishnu and his avatars similar to Krishna. In 2013, when she was sworn into the US Home of Representatives, she took her oath on the Bhagavad Gita, changing into the primary Hindu member of the USA Congress.She has beforehand spoken about her religion in interviews and public appearances.