“I know that Tulsi will bring the courageous spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our intelligence community, defending our constitutional rights and ensuring peace through strength,” Trump said in a statement, noting that she has “broad support from both political parties.” Tulsi will make us all proud!”
Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, has shifted her political allegiance in recent years, moving from a candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2020 to a strong supporter of Trump and a critic of the administration of current President Joe Biden. She left the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent representative.
She will replace Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence when Trump begins his second term as US president in January.
It is not expected that she will face difficulty in approving her appointment by the Senate, as the Republican Party will maintain a majority of at least 52 to 48 seats in the Senate starting early next year.
Gabbard was the first Hindu elected to the House of Representatives in 2012. She is also a veteran and former lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves.
As Director of National Intelligence, Gabbard will play a leading role in helping shape Trump’s international rules of the game. She landed the job after criticizing Biden’s response to ongoing conflicts around the world.
She said during an election rally for Trump: “This administration has made us face multiple wars on multiple fronts in regions around the world and closer to the brink of nuclear war than ever before.”
She added, “I am confident that Trump’s first mission will be to keep us away from the brink of war.”
She criticized Biden’s support for Ukraine, saying that “the United States in the Ukrainian conflict is not interested in the people of this country, democracy, and freedom, but rather in changing the regime in Russia.”
She noted, “It is clear that the United States and NATO were behind the attack on the Nord Stream lines, and not a pro-Ukrainian group.”
As a member of the House of Representatives, Gabbard was a vocal critic of former President Barack Obama’s administration’s intervention in the war in Syria. She sparked violent reactions in 2017 after her visit to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
She said at the time that she did so “because I felt it was important, if we truly care about the Syrian people and their suffering, that we be able to meet with anyone we need if there is a possibility of achieving peace.”
Two years later, during her presidential run, Gabbard refused to describe Assad as a “war criminal,” and said that he “is not an enemy of the United States, because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States.”
Source: NPR + RT
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