Tulsi Gabbard is heading to Capitol Hill to beg senators for votes. Like so many of Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, Gabbard has her work cut out for her.
The felon-elect’s pick for director of national intelligence has drawn critical eyes as it has been revealed the former Democrat has a penchant for Russian propaganda.
Former Gabbard aides told ABC news last week that the Democrat-turned-MAGA apologist would regularly read and share stories from RT—a state-run media outlet formerly known as Russia Today.
Despite Democrats claiming Gabbard is a “Russian asset,” her former coworkers said that’s not quite the case. However, the ex-aides do think that the former Hawaii representative has adopted some more sympathetic viewpoints that align with the Kremlin due to her consumption of the pro-Russian media. Adding fuel to the fire, the aides released a memo, obtained by ABC, sent to them in 2017, which echoed this stance.
Gabbard pointed fingers at the U.S. and NATO for provoking Russian aggression, criticizing the U.S. for its “hostility towards Putin.”
“There certainly isn’t any guarantee to Putin that we won’t try to overthrow Russia’s government,” she wrote. Gabbard added that she was “pretty sure” there were some “American politicians who would love to do that.”
She also drew ire for a controversial 2017 meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, who, as of this week, has reportedly been granted asylum in Russia after rebel forces seized control of Damascus.
Speculation aside, Gabbard’s reputation for commingling with dictators has drawn fierce criticism as she is poised to oversee U.S. spy agencies and would have a treasure trove of the country’s biggest secrets.
“Behind closed doors, people think she might be compromised. Like it’s not hyperbole,” one Republican Senate aide told The Hill, adding, “There are members of our conference who think she’s a [Russian] asset.”
But that hasn’t stopped Fox News from drumming up their own pro-Gabbard takes as well. The outlet has leaned on veterans and bashing Democrats as a means to prop up Gabbard. As Fox News writes, many other outlets have “attempted to paint Gabbard as a national security risk who is sympathetic to U.S. adversaries.”
However, instead of addressing the narrative further, Fox has only addressed these claims of dictator sympathy once. The Murdoch-owned outlet seemingly buried any information regarding the accusations at the bottom of a story bashing one Democrat for even suggesting Gabbard was associated with the likes of Putin or al-Assad.
As for Gabbard, she isn’t the only one of Trump’s picks on Capitol Hill this week vying for votes that may be stacked against them. Fox News’ Pete Hegseth is on the Hill pleading to senators as he tries to collect favorable votes—despite being an alcoholic with sexual assault allegations among a list of other offenses.
May the odds be ever in your favor.
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