Gabbard fires back at Clinton for calling her a Russian pawn
WASHINGTON: US 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard on Friday lashed out at former secretary of state Hillary Clinton after she hinted that Gabbard was being groomed by Russia.
Slamming Clinton as the “queen of warmongers and embodiment of corruption”, Gabbard accused her of running a “concerted campaign” to destroy her reputation.
“It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly,” she said.
Later in the day, Gabbard’s campaign sent out an email to supporters seeking donations citing Clinton’s allegations.
Clinton, in a podcast interview aired on Thursday, told David Plouffe, “I’m not making any predictions, but I think they’ve got their eye on somebody who’s currently in the Democratic primary and they’re grooming her to be the third-party candidate.”
She didn’t directly name Gabbard. But later, when asked if she was referring to Gabbard, Clinton’s spokesperson said, “If the nesting doll fits.”
Gabbard responded with a string of stinging tweets. “Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton. You...personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain,” she wrote.
Clinton and the Democrats feel aggrieved about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and US authorities have warned that Moscow could be at it again in 2020.
Gabbard’s campaign has attracted attention for frequent mentions on RT, a Russian TV channel with links to the Kremlin, and the support she appears to be getting on some right-wing social media sites.