As the 2020 Democratic presidential primary continues, some of the lower tier candidates in terms of polling numbers and financial support are trying to push their voices. These figures include Hawaii’s Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, whose support has stayed consistently in the low single digits but is now pushing — at least on paper — for none other than Hillary Clinton herself to join the 2020 Democratic primary race and face Gabbard. A feud between the two of them has burst out into the open after Clinton accused Gabbard of functioning as a “Russian asset” in light of the fringe internet support developing for her as if meddlers hope she’s a third party candidate that draws support away from the eventual Democratic nominee.
After initially posting a public response to Clinton’s allegation on Twitter including an insistence that the former Secretary of State join the race and face her directly, Gabbard has now kept up that insistence in a fundraising email.
Besides packing diatribes against an array of leading figures who’ve opposed Gabbard, that email reads, in part:
‘Hillary Clinton accused Tulsi Gabbard — a combat veteran, soldier and Major in the Army National Guard — of being ‘groomed’ to be a ‘Russian asset.’ Tulsi fights back and demands Hillary join the race and face her directly.’
The message mirrors something Gabbard had previously wrote on Twitter, where she shared:
‘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.’
There is no evidence of any kind of coordination between Hillary Clinton and those who oppose Tulsi Gabbard.
Neither is there any indication that Clinton will join the Democratic presidential primary. She has insisted that she’s not running, which would be her third time, although she has quipped about the possibility, including in response to Donald Trump rambling on Twitter about how great it would be if she did join so he could prove victorious against her again.
Meanwhile, Gabbard has faced criticism for steps like supporting overseas military involvement on the part of the U.S. and trying to pal around with dictators like Syria’s mass murderer Bashar al Assad. She has insisted her steps are just trying to be as bold as need be to find substantive solutions to the conflicts.
At present, her average level of support as reflected in the RealClearPolitics average of polls of the Democratic presidential primary field is 1.2 percent. Five listed candidates are below her, ranging from Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, who has 1 percent of the support to former Obama administration official Julian Castro, who has 0.8 percent, to Montana Governor Steve Bullock, who has just 0.2 percent. Why is he running again?
