2016 Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton suggested that Tulsi Gabbard was being groomed by the Russians. Suggesting that her candidacy would disrupt the political process through their bots. “I’m not making any predictions, but I think they’ve got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate,” Clinton said on a podcast with former Barack Obama aide David Plouffe. “She’s the favorite of the Russians.”
Gabbard, the presidential candidate for 2020, differs from the Democrat party on issues such as abortion because she does not support 3rd-trimester abortions unless the life of the mother is in peril as well as the regime change in foreign countries. Gabbard has drawn the ire of Clinton and her supporters. WBUR's Kimberly Atkins said on MSNBC Live, "One thing that was interesting about Tulsi Gabbard's response, I mean she went after Hillary Clinton strong, she said she wasn't going to run as a third-party candidate, she never denied being a Russian asset. She further went on to claim, "That was the one aspect that was missing from her response, which you think that would be in the first line or two. It was not there."
Gabbard response to these insinuations: "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 concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why. 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. It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.
It is hard to see how Clinton could accuse Gabbard of being a Russian asset given her polling is at around 1.2%. Begging the question is this an attempt on the part of the Clinton Machine to keep the Russian narrative alive.
Despite this attack on a Democrat presidential candidate none of the top polling candidates have come out to defend Gabbard. Only Yang, Williamson and Booker have had any words to say to condemn this attack.