Presidential hopeful and Iraq War veteran Tulsi Gabbard took to Twitter on Sunday to praise Jon Stewart for his viral speech in front of Congress on Tuesday, in which he advocated for 9/11 victims and first responders to continue receiving compensation for their bravery, as The Inquisitr previously reported. She also blasted the United States government for maintaining friendly relationships with countries like Saudi Arabia and organizations such as Al-Qaeda.
“We applaud Jon Stewart for his advocacy and stand with all 9/11 first responders & their families who sacrificed so much for us,” she said.
“This is why we are so outraged at our government for supporting Saudi Arabia & Al-Qaeda — the terrorists who attacked us.”
Gabbard referenced an Associated Press article — among others — that reveals a U.S.-backed, Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen paid Al-Qaeda commanders to leave key locations throughout the country as part of secret deals that allowed the commanders to retreat with their weapons, supplies, and cash without reprisal.
The comment was likely also directed at the administration of President Donald Trump, who has continued with arms deals to Saudi Arabia even following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which the CIA believes was ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. In addition, as The Inquisitr previously reported, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine claims that the Trump administration has given the go-ahead to the transfer of nuclear technical expertise to the desert country seven times — two of which took place following Khashoggi’s purported assassination.
I spoke with @TulsiGabbard about her 2020 campaign — and why she thinks her foreign policy stance isn’t making her many friends in Washington.
Days later, a couple of explosions set the Middle East on edge, and raised the possibility of US-Iran war. https://t.co/d0RG2lGE6k
— Clark Mindock (@ClarkMindock) June 16, 2019
Kaine said that Trump’s decision to continue appeasing the Saudis, despite pushback from both Republican and Democratic congresspeople, “harms American national security interests and is one of many steps the administration is taking that is fueling a dangerous escalation of tension in the region.”
At a recent campaign event, RT reported that Gabbard criticized the media for what she called “completely baseless” smears against her campaign. She also criticized the decline of factual reporting by news outlets.
“We see opinions, we see panels of people on all the news channels — I don’t care which one you watch — sharing their opinions.”
At the same event, Gabbard criticized a story that suggested her presidential campaign was backed by “Kremlin sympathizers,” such as Nation magazine’s Stephen F. Cohen, an international relations expert and professor emeritus of Russian studies at New York University and Princeton University who believes that U.S. and Russia would be better off with stronger ties.
Some opponents have also painted Gabbard as an “apologist” for Syria’s President Bashar Assad after refusing to back U.S. efforts to overthrow the Syrian government.
