Fact-check: Is Tulsi Gabbard of 'Indian origin'?

Tulsi Gabbard, United States Democratic presidential candidate, extended a warm welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his visit to US while also apologised for not being able to join the "Howdy Modi" event scheduled to be held in Houston on Sept. 22.

“Indian-origin presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard welcomes Narendra Modi on a visit to the US, apologises for not being able to join ‘Howdy Modi’ event”, read the headline of a Firstpost article, which credited the story to news agency Asian News International.

Several other media outlets have also published articles where it is being claimed that Gabbard is the first Indian-origin woman candidate for the US presidential elections.

Fact-check

Alt News found that the 37-year-old Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is not of Indian-origin. She has herself publically clarified the same on Twitter in October 2012. It was also reiterated by her in 2014.

Moreover, according to an explainer published by The Indian Express, Gabbard was born into a family of American Samoan ancestry, which is native to the US State of Hawaii. “Her father was a Catholic and her mother a convert to Hinduism. Gabbard herself became a Hindu when she was a teenager.”

In conclusion, many mainstream outlets misreported that Democratic presidential candidate representative Tulsi Gabbard is a woman of Indian-origin while she has herself publically denied to have Indian ancestry.