Democrat Tulsi Gabbard reveals she met Assad in Syria

The representative from Hawaii made the admission just after returning from a week-long trip to the war-torn country.

"Initially I hadn't planned on meeting him," Gabbard told CNN's Jake Tapper.

"When the opportunity arose to meet with him, I did so, because I felt it's important that if we profess to truly care about the Syrian people, about their suffering, then we've got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there is a possibility that we could achieve peace. And that’s exactly what we talked about."

She added that her trip included stops in Aleppo and Damascus, and Lebanon's capital Beirut. During this time she met with refugees, opposition leaders, families of rebel fighters and Assad supporters.

Maintaining a distinctly pro-Assad line that conflicts with the views of many within her party, Gabbard blasted her country's role in supporting rebel groups, who she dismissed as "terrorists".

The Democrat lawmaker said that the US had launched "wars of regime change" in Iraq, Libya and Syria that have resulted in immense suffering and the "strengthening of groups like al-Qaeda".