Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has received a major conservative endorsement as she seeks to be confirmed as Director of National Intelligence in the incoming Donald Trump administration: that of former House Speaker and commentator Newt Gingrich.
Gingrich endorsed Gabbard in a publication on his website. Titled "President Trump and America Need Tulsi Gabbard," it claims she will be an "intelligent, tough, and relentless leader of the American intelligence community."
"The establishment will present smear, attack, and spread misinformation about her. It is trying to protect the inefficient, often dishonest, and sometimes corrupt intelligence community which has grown up since the Cold War," Gingrich added.
Gabbard's nomination has indeed been surrounded by controversy, especially due to a trip she made to Syria in 2017 and an alleged cozy relationship with Russia. During her campaign, the Representative sparred with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said Russia was backing the Hawaii native and that she was a Kremlin favorite who was supported by its propaganda apparatus. Gabbard responded by calling Clinton the "queen of warmongers."
After Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Gabbard posted a video on social media repeating a false claim pushed by the Kremlin that the U.S. was funding biological weapons labs in Ukraine. The claim prompted Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, to say Gabbard was "parroting false Russian propaganda."
Gingrich, however, slammed all criticism against Gabbard and said the opposition to her "comes from two fears."
"Some are worried she is pro-Syrian or pro-Russian because she is cautious about putting young American lives on the line in even more conflicts. The second fear is legitimate (if you are part of the establishment). She is a skeptical outsider who seeks to break up the incestuous community which dominates our intelligence systems," Gingrich claimed.
He went on to say that "most Americans have grown tired of never-ending wars" and that "having a skeptic at the head of the intelligence community is exactly what the American people want."
In another passage of the piece, the former speaker said the CIA "unleashed an unprecedented wave of leaks" during Trump's first term with the sole purpose of "undercutting" his agenda and "settling political scores."
"Trump's second term must be different. That means hiring a different kind of Director of National Intelligence. Gabbard is that different kind of director," Gingrich concluded.
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