Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard began her confirmation hearing with a fiery opening statement, calling out the lies and smears that the Democrats are likely to use against her and arguing that the attacks will come because she refuses “to be their puppet.”
Near the end of Gabbard’s opening statement, the former Democrat congresswoman began predicting the exact smears that Senate Democrats will use against her — pointing to the blatant lies about her being a “puppet” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump, and others.
“Before I close, I want to warn the American people who are watching at home: you may hear lies and smears in this hearing that will challenge my loyalty to and my love for our country,” Gabbard said.
“Those who oppose my nomination imply that I am loyal to something or someone other than God, my own conscience, and the Constitution of the United States, accusing me of being Trump’s puppet, Putin’s puppet, Assad’s puppet, a guru’s puppet, Modi’s puppet — not recognizing the absurdity of simultaneously being the puppet of five different puppet-masters,” she added.
Gabbard went on to point out that the Democrat used the “same tactic” against Trump and it “failed” — noting that “the American people elected Trump with a decisive victory and mandate for change.”
She then concluded with her most fiery statement yet — arguing that the Democrats who claim she is a “puppet” are actually mad that she won’t agree to do their bidding.
“The fact is, what truly unsettles my political opponents is that I refuse to be THEIR puppet,” Gabbard said.
DNI Director-designate @TulsiGabbard: Democrats have accused me of being Trump’s puppet, Putin’s puppet, Assad’s puppet, a guru’s puppet, Modi’s puppet — but what truly unsettles them is I refuse to be THEIR puppet. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nphSJ26r1M
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) January 30, 2025
Gabbard wasn’t the only one trying to preempt the Democrats’ smear tactics, and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) also warned Democrats about using the ridiculous and unfounded smears to target Gabbard — telling them that their job should be to question Gabbard about policies, not gossip.
“Hillary Clinton has basically called her a traitor in the past. This is a woman who served more than 20 years in our nation’s army. She’s passed five different background checks. I reviewed the latest one. It’s clean as a whistle. It’s fine for people to have policy differences and ask questions about those differences. I hope no one would impugn Mrs. Gabbard’s patriotism or her integrity,” Cotton said.
BOOM! Sen. Tom Cotton just put Democrats on notice if they dare suggest that Tulsi Gabbard is a "Russian Asset":
"She has undergone five FBI background checks. I spent more than two hours last week reviewing the latest. Putting eyes on more than 300 pages. It's clean as a… pic.twitter.com/SO3H9Vrim9
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 30, 2025