Ex-CIA Agent Says Tulsi Gabbard ‘Is With The Russians’ As Russian Media Promotes Her Attack On Hillary Clinton
On Friday, Democratic 2020 presidential candidate and Hawaii congressional representative Tulsi Gabbard lashed back at the party’s 2016 nominee, Hillary Clinton, after Clinton suggested that Gabbard was being “groomed” by Russia to run on a “third-party” ticket in the 2020 general election. Clinton tweeted that Gabbard was going to take votes from whoever the Democratic nominee turns out to be, helping Donald Trump win re-election.
Clinton was not alone in suggesting that Gabbard’s candidacy is designed to benefit Russia. A former CIA agent who actually did run as an independent presidential candidate in 2016, 43-year-old Evan McMullin, endorsed Clinton’s view of Gabbard in a statement posted on his Twitter account late Friday.
“I believe it’s true. Tulsi Gabbard is with the Russians and the Russians are with Tulsi Gabbard,” McMullin wrote. “She confirms it every time she opens her mouth.”
Clinton’s comments clearly angered Gabbard, who took to her own Twitter account to slam Clinton in a passionate rant, describing Clinton as “the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party,” per The Inquisitr.
Gabbard concluded her Twitter thread by addressing Clinton directly, telling the former secretary of state, “this primary is between you and me.”
Clinton, of course, is not a candidate in the primary, though Gabbard in her Twitter rant challenged Clinton to enter the race. Gabbard is polling at only 1.2 percent, according to the Real Clear Politics average of all polls, which ranks her 11th in the Democratic field. This places Gabbard one spot behind billionaire businessman Tom Steyer, who declared his candidacy on July 9.
During Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate, Gabbard also claimed that both CNN and The New York Times had labeled her a “Russian asset,” a charge which she called “despicable.” But as investigative journalist and Russia expert Julia Davis documented in a Daily Beast report, Russian state-run media has shown “ongoing support for Gabbard.”
Davis called the favorable coverage of Gabbard’s campaign by Russian government media outlets “not surprising,” because Gabbard’s “talking points are in perfect alignment with the Kremlin.”
On Friday, after Gabbard posted her Twitter attack on Clinton, both Sputnik and RT — both Russian state-owned English-language media outlets — posted favorable stories spotlighting Gabbard’s accusations against Clinton.
As far back as 2016, when Gabbard became one of the leading campaign surrogates for Clinton’s primary opponent, Bernie Sanders, RT asked whether Gabbard would “go from Bernie Sanders to Donald Trump,” seeking a position in the Trump administration, according to Davis.
And in fact, as ABC News reported at the time, the Trump transition team gave Gabbard serious consideration for a cabinet post, possibly even Clinton’s previous job of secretary of state.
