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Gabbard hits back at 'queen of warmongers' Hillary Clinton

Gabbard hits back at 'queen of warmongers' Clinton

By Marty Johnson

The Hill, October 18, 2019

Presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) did not hold back Friday when responding to 2016 nominee Hilary Clinton's suggestion that she is the "favorite of the Russians" for 2020, excoriating the former secretary of State as "the queen of warmongers" and "personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party."

"She's the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her, so far," Clinton had told David Plouffe, host of the podcast "Campaign HQ," and the campaign manager for former President Obama's 2008 campaign.

While the former first lady and New York senator didn't refer to Gabbard by name, it was clear that she was going after the Hawaii congresswoman, who has had to repeatedly deny accusations of being a Russian asset.

Through a series of tweets, Gabbard went right at Clinton, calling her the "embodiment of corruption" among the Democratic Party establishment.

"From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation," Gabbard said.

"We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know - it was always you," she added.

Gabbard challenged Clinton to "join the race directly" if she's going to attack her.

Gabbard, a member of the Hawaii National Guard and an Iraq War veteran, has faced ongoing concern from political observers that her campaign is being amplified by Russian bots and online trolls.

She has raised eyebrows with her anti-establishment foreign policy positions, especially her accusation that the U.S. engages in regime-change wars and her meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2017.

Gabbard's tweeted attack on Clinton left fellow Democratic 2020 candidate Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) speechless.

According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Gabbard is polling at 1.2 percent nationally, making her one of the lower-tier candidates to make this week's primary debate in Ohio.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gabbard-hits-back-at-queen-of-warmongers-clinton/ar-AAIZRs9?ocid=spartanntp

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Clinton suggests Russia grooming Gabbard to run as third-party 2020 candidate

The Hill, By Max Greenwood - 10/18/19

In an interview on the podcast “Campaign HQ,” the former secretary of State warned that the Russian government was poised to once again meddle in the U.S. presidential election through online disinformation efforts and by encouraging a third-party challenger to stir chaos in the contest.

The Russians already have their “eye on somebody who’s currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate,” she said, in an apparent reference to Gabbard.

“She’s the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her, so far,” Clinton told David Plouffe, the podcast’s host and the campaign manager for former President  Obama’s 2008 campaign.

“And that’s assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she’s also a Russian asset,” Clinton added, referring to the 2016 Green Party presidential candidate.

Clinton did not mention Gabbard by name. But her comments were a clear swipe at the Hawaii congresswoman, who has repeatedly been accused by political rivals and critics of being a potential Russian asset. Gabbard has denied those allegations.

During a Democratic presidential debate this week, Gabbard criticized news outlets — The New York Times and CNN, in particular — for accusing her of being “a Russian asset and an Assad apologist,” calling the allegations “completely despicable.”

A spokesperson for Gabbard’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Friday about Clinton’s remarks, but the congresswoman later tweeted a blistering response, accusing Clinton of being the "personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long."

The Hawaii Democrat has already said that she will not mount an independent bid for president if she does not win the party's nomination in 2020.

Gabbard has become a target for criticism from both Democrats and Republicans for her foreign policy views. In particular, she has drawn scrutiny for her views on American military involvement in Syria and arguing that the U.S. has waged so-called regime-change wars in the Middle East.

She has been reluctant to criticize Syrian President Bashar Assad, even in the face of suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity, and met with him secretly during a trip to Syria in 2017. 

More recently, some Democrats have expressed concerns about what they say is online bot activity supportive of Gabbard’s presidential campaign. After the first Democratic debate in June, for instance, the hashtag #KamalaHarrisDestroyed trended among Gabbard’s supporters on Twitter, leading to speculation that it had been amplified by bots on the website.

Twitter has said it did not uncover any significant bot activity around the hashtag and there is no evidence that the campaign was involved with spreading the hashtag.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/466460-clinton-suggests-russia-grooming-gabbard-to-run-as-third-party-2020  

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