‘Russians’ are grooming Tulsi Gabbard, hints Hillary Clinton (& by the way, Jill Stein’s ‘totally’ a Russian asset too)
Seemingly determined to both keep herself relevant and the specter of ‘Russian collusion’ alive, Hillary Clinton has come out and (to nobody’s surprise) claimed that everyone she doesn’t like on the left is a Russian asset.
“I’m not making any predictions, but I think they’ve got their eye on someone who’s currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate,” Clinton said in a podcast interview this week. “She’s the favorite of the Russians.”
Hillary strongly implies that Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian asset who will act to serve the Kremlin's interest. Also says there's no doubt Jill Stein is. Does she have evidence for these grave accusations? Of course not. None is needed in Dem Party discourse. It's gutter trash. https://t.co/g0TmAwjDI3
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 18, 2019
HRC's vile comments about Tulsi/Jill Stein are not unique to her. They're an outgrowth of a political/media culture -- see MSNBC, CNN, WP, NYT -- that smears dissenters from establishment orthodoxies & politicians as Russian dupes. The delusion runs deep. Congrats if you partake.
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) October 18, 2019
While she did not mention Tulsi Gabbard by name, the Hawaiian congresswoman has been accused of disloyalty to America since day one of her presidential campaign, for the “crime” of criticizing the US sponsorship of anti-government rebels in Syria and calling for increased dialog with Moscow.
When asked whether Clinton was talking about Gabbard, a Clinton spokesperson later told CNN “if the nesting doll fits,” doubling down on the Russian imagery.
As for how exactly “the Russians” are grooming Gabbard, Clinton pointed to “a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far,” seemingly oblivious to the fact that the ‘Russian bots sowing discord’ theory is a thoroughly debunked smear.
Not content to stop at Gabbard, Clinton also accused the Green Party’s Jill Stein of being in the Kremlin’s employ. “Yeah, she’s a Russian asset,” Clinton added. “I mean, totally.” The fact that a small number of voters Clinton believed herself entitled to opted for Stein in 2016 was proof enough for her.
It's a shame HRC is peddling conspiracy theories to justify her failure instead of reflecting on real reasons Dems lost in 2016. You can slander progressives as “Russian assets”, but you can't hide the fact that the DNC sabotaged Sanders & elevated Trump to set the stage for HRC. https://t.co/ImGDnL1451
— Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) October 18, 2019
Spare a thought for poor Hillary Clinton, seeing reds under the bed ever since her own presidential aspirations nosedived almost three years ago. Though special counsel Robert Mueller’s two-year investigation found no “collusion” between the Trump campaign and Moscow, and though allegations of ‘Russian interference’ in the 2016 election have been based on little more than hearsay and innuendo, Clinton continues to insist that Vladimir Putin denied her the presidency.
Since November 2016, she’s surfaced occasionally to blame others for her own loss, alternately pointing the finger at Putin, Bernie Sanders, misogyny, the FBI and WikiLeaks. The conspiracy theory that Russia somehow convinced voters to plump for Jill Stein is a favorite of hers, though. Even husband and former President Bill Clinton has floated the theory publicly before, telling a crowd in New York last year that Stein was the “preferred alternative of the Russians,” again with zero evidence.
Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton. You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a ...
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) October 18, 2019
Gabbard responded to Clinton's accusations with a stinging tweet on Friday, calling the former Secretary of State "the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long."
"From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation," she continued. "We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know — it was always you."
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