Clive featured in Tulsi Gabbard profile

Tulsi Gabbard’s political path back into Republican national politics ran through Clive, Iowa, in the spring of 2023. A USA Today photo profile published on May 22 included an image of Gabbard speaking at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual Spring Kick-Off on April 22, 2023, in Clive, placing the suburb west of Des Moines inside a national retrospective on her rise to director of national intelligence. The April 2023 stop came as Republican presidential hopefuls and would-be contenders were testing messages in Iowa before the state’s first-in-the-nation caucus season. Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who later left the Democratic Party and moved toward the Republican orbit, was one of several national figures on the Clive program. (usatoday.com) The mention does not suggest Clive was central to Gabbard’s later intelligence post. It shows that a local Iowa campaign stop became part of a national media recap after her tenure as DNI ended. ### Why did Clive show up in a national Tulsi Gabbard profile? USA Today’s May 22 photo gallery on Gabbard’s career identified one frame from Clive, Iowa, showing her at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual Spring Kick-Off on April 22, 2023. (desmoinesregister.com) The caption described her as a former U.S. representative speaking to the crowd in Clive. (usatoday.com) That image linked a local Iowa event to a broader national story line. On the same day the gallery was published, USA Today also reported that Gabbard was resigning as director of national intelligence. ### What was the Clive event where she spoke? The Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s 23rd annual Spring Kick-Off took place at the Horizon Events Center in Clive on April 22, 2023. (usatoday.com) Local and national coverage described it as a gathering of Republican presidential hopefuls and other conservative speakers courting evangelical voters in Iowa. (usatoday.com) WHO 13 reported that the event drew a crowd of more than 1,000 Iowans. Iowa Public Radio also said more than 1,000 people attended the Spring Kickoff in Clive. ### Who else shared the stage with Gabbard in Clive? Former Vice President Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, U.S. Senator Tim Scott, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, Larry Elder, Will Hurd and Perry Johnson were listed among the participants. (who13.com) Former President Donald Trump addressed the crowd by recorded message, according to WHO 13 and an Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition Facebook post. Getty Images captions from the event also identified Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann in connection with Gabbard’s appearance. ### Why was Iowa, and specifically Clive, a useful stop in 2023? Iowa’s role in the Republican nominating calendar made the state a standard stop for presidential contenders and potential contenders in 2023. (who13.com) ABC News said the back-to-back candidate forum in Clive gave speakers a chance to court a key bloc of Christian conservative voters before the Republican caucuses the following February. (gettyimages.in) Clive was the host city because the Horizon Events Center has long served as a venue for statewide political gatherings. In this case, the suburb became the setting for one of the larger cattle-call style Republican events of the early 2024 cycle. ### How does the Clive stop fit into Gabbard’s broader political trajectory? Tulsi Gabbard served in Congress as a Democrat from Hawaii, left the Democratic Party in 2022 and later joined the Republican Party in 2024, according to biographical accounts and public profiles. (abcnews.com) Her April 2023 appearance in Clive came during that transition period, when she was showing up at conservative events in early-voting states. (who13.com) Her later appointment as director of national intelligence gave that earlier Iowa image added relevance for editors assembling a career timeline. Politico and other outlets reported on May 22, 2026, that Gabbard was stepping down from the intelligence post. ### Where can readers see the Clive reference now? USA Today’s May 22, 2026 photo gallery on Gabbard’s political career includes the Clive image in its online archive. (en.wikipedia.org) Separate 2023 photo galleries and event coverage from the Des Moines Register and other outlets also document her appearance at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition event on April 22, 2023. (usatoday.com) (politico.com)