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Democratic election hopeful blasts Clinton over Russia remarks
WASHINGTON, Oct 19, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Hillary Clinton warned that Russia is
grooming a US Democratic candidate for a third-party run next year, prompting
the accused Tulsi Gabbard to unleash an all-out attack Friday on the “queen
of warmongers” ex-secretary of state.
Clinton — and history from her 2016 presidential defeat to Donald Trump –
– suggested that the result of the Russian-backed move would be to divide the
US electorate and help Trump win again in 2020.
“I think they’ve got their eye on somebody who’s currently in the
Democratic primary, and they’re grooming her to be the third-party
candidate,” Clinton said on the “Campaign HQ” podcast that first aired
Thursday.
“She’s the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots
and other ways of supporting her so far.”
Clinton did not name Gabbard, but the Hawaii congresswoman essentially
acknowledged she was the target by blasting out a stunning Twitter thread
against the former first lady.
“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,” Gabbard ranted at her fellow Democrat.
Gabbard, 38, accused 71-year-old Clinton, long a doyenne of the Washington
establishment, of leading a “concerted campaign” to destroy her reputation.
“Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and powerful
allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose,”
she added.
“It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me,” she sneered.
“Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.”
Clinton has said she is done running for president.
Gabbard’s campaign is hanging by a thread. She is polling at barely one
percent support in a sprawling field that includes former vice president Joe
Biden and senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
Her tirade is startling given that it is from one presidential candidate
to her own party’s 2016 nominee, herself the target of Russian interference
that year.
US media analysis has shown that sites tied to Russia have celebrated
Gabbard’s campaign launch, defended her controversial 2017 meeting with
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and attacked people who have suggested
Gabbard is a pawn for Moscow.
Last week The New York Times quoted influential Republicans who said they
were impressed with her. Far-right conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich said
she “seems very Trumpian.”
Gabbard has rejected some of the support from rightwing or white
nationalist sources, and during last week’s Democratic debate she chastised
the Times for publishing “smears” and said television commentators were
“completely despicable” for calling her a Russian asset.
The US intelligence community has concluded that Russia interfered in the
2016 election to help boost Trump’s chances of victory.
Clinton said it was clear Russia is laying the groundwork for similar
interference in 2020.
In 2016, Green Party liberal Jill Stein won more votes than Trump’s
victory margin in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, states that could
have secured the presidency for Clinton.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0947 hrs