Last week Daily Kos reported that former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard received a donation to her 2020 presidential campaign from an alleged Russian agent. To double down on her suspicious relationship with the Kremlin, Gabbard turned to Twitter to announce a bizarre conspiracy theory about U.S.-funded biological laboratories in Ukraine… apparently mimicking Russian-backed talking points.
Gabbard claimed the "undeniable facts" that there are 35 to 40 "U.S. funded biolabs" in Ukraine currently conducting research into dangerous pathogens. She pretended to be extremely concerned that these "deadly pathogens" could be released if Russia targeted them.
"Like COVID, these pathogens know no borders," Gabbard said. "If they are inadvertently or purposely breached or compromised, they will quickly spread all throughout Europe, the United States, and the rest of the world, causing untold suffering and death."
It didn’t take long for people to condemn Gabbard for her batshit crazy comments.
“Her treasonous lies may well cost lives,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), tweeted Sunday.
Gabbard responded to Romney Monday with a long and winding road of tweets with her evidence of the Ukraine lab conspiracy, ending with a demand he “apologize” and “resign.”
She signed off with “Aloha.”
And of course, it didn’t take long for comrade Tucker Carlson to feature Gabbard, giving her a chance to complete her total transmutation from Democratic presidential candidate to conservative to full-on American turncoat.
Gabbard doubled down on the crazy, telling Fox’s Carlson that Victoria Nuland, an American diplomat serving as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, didn’t deny to Sen. Marco Rubio that bioagents existed in Ukraine. Gabbard additionally accused the Biden administration and Nuland of trying to cover up the alleged labs.
GOP rep. Adam Kinzinger tweeted that Gabbard was spreading "actual Russian propaganda" and accused her of being "traitorous."
Gabbard has a long and strange history with pro-Russian sentiments. In 2015, when Russia began bombing Syria, she applauded the win as a fight against terrorism. (Russian troops were targeting Syrian rebel groups and not al-Qaeda-aligned rebels.) Russia was simply defending itself, she said. These are Russian talking points, as Vox writer Zack Beauchamp pointed out.
It was Gabbard’s visit with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in 2017 and her penchant for favoring Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s involvement in the country that ended her relationship for good with the Democratic Party. That, and hiring an adviser with links to the Kremlin.
If you can stomach Tucker Carlson’s interview with Gabbard.
See below:
David Weissman, a U.S. Army veteran known for no longer supporting Donald Trump, tweeted: "Can it be any more clear? Comrade Tulsi Gabbard's latest video proves Hillary Clinton’s claim to Tulsi being a Russian asset."
Jon Cooper, a prominent fundraiser for President Barack Obama added: "Who's the bigger TRAITOR—Tucker Carlson or Tulsi Gabbard?"
Filmmaker Gerard Bush called the congresswoman a "treasonous liar; a Russian asset and a stain on American democracy."
Despite Gabbard’s repeated denials of being a Russian spy, what can’t be denied is the number of times she has appeared as a guest on Tucker Carlson’s show—at least four times in the week Putin invaded Ukraine.
And what’s worse? Russian state television features translated clips of the interviews.