South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Gabbard fires back at Clinton’s suggestion that she’s Russian pawn
MANCHESTER, N.H. — It’s Hillary Clinton vs. Tulsi Gabbard on the sidelines of the 2020 presidential race.
The Hawaii congresswoman fought back after Clinton appeared to call her “the favorite of the Russians” in a recent interview and said she believes the Russians have “got their eye on somebody who’s currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate.”
Clinton, the former senator, U.S. secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, did not name Gabbard directly.
In a series of tweets Friday, Gabbard called Clinton the “personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long.”
Gabbard also alleged there has been a “concerted campaign” to destroy her reputation since she announced her presidential run in January.
“It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me,” Gabbard tweeted about Clinton. “Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.”
There is lingering trepidation in the Democratic Party of a repeat of the 2016 presidential race, when Russia interfered in the U.S. election in an effort to help Donald Trump defeat Clinton.
U.S. intelligence agencies have warned that Russia intends to meddle in the 2020 presidential election, as well. Russian President Vladimir Putin has mocked that possibility, joking earlier this month that Moscow would “definitely intervene” again.
During a Democratic presidential debate last week, Gabbard criticized a TV commentator who she said had called her “an asset of Russia.”
Without naming Gabbard, Clinton seemed to echo the commentator’s remark during a recent podcast appearance on “Campaign HQ with David Plouffe.”
Clinton also called Trump “Vladimir Putin’s dream” in the interview. She went on to say that Trump’s inauguration speech was “like a declaration of war on half of America.” Clinton also describes 2016 Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein as “a Russian asset.”
Stein, who ran against Trump and Clinton as a Green Party candidate, received about 1% of the vote in the 2016 election, but some Democrats said her candidacy siphoned votes away from Clinton and helped Trump win.