Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) took a giant whack at the liberal media during Tuesday night’s 2020 Democratic debate, taking issue with debate partners CNN and The New York Times as being overly hostile due to her foreign policy views. And to make things even more interesting, she specifically slammed CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers (without naming him).
Co-moderator Anderson Cooper posed this question to Gabbard early in the debate’s discussion of foreign policy, which occurred at the 9:10 p.m. Eastern mark:
Congresswoman Gabbard, last week you said American troops should get out of Syria now. You don't agree with how the President handled the withdrawal. What would you have done differently? How would you have pulled out troops without the bloodshed we're seeing now?
Gabbard responded by using a catchphrase about the need “to understand the reality of the situation there,” and ruling “that the slaughter of the Kurds being done by Turkey is yet another negative consequence of the regime change war that we've been waging in Syria,” with the President the one responsible.
Keeping mind that much has been written about Gabbard’s closeness to despicable Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, her skepticism about Assad’s culpability in chemical weapons attacks, and acknowledging how Russian bots and Russian media have praised her, Gabbard argued that the “many in the mainstream media...have been championing and cheerleading this regime change war” alongside Trump.
Before talking about what she would do instead in the Middle East, she knocked the two far-left media companies running the debate, including a swipe at Sellers.
Hours earlier on New Day, Sellers blasted the combat veteran and Major in the Hawaii Army National Guard for being, in his words, “a puppet for the Russian government”:
Not only that but — New York Times and CNN have also smeared veterans like myself for calling for an end to this regime change war. Just two days ago, The New York Times put out a — an article saying that I'm a Russian asset and an Assad apologist and all these different smears. This morning, a CNN commentator said on national television that I'm an asset of Russia. Completely despicable.
Later in the debate, Gabbard began to ask her fellow candidates about their fitness for office and specifically the 70-year-old Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) when co-moderator Erin Burnett cut her off in favor of a commercial break before she could finish.
To see the relevant transcript from the CNN debate on October 15, click “expand.”
CNN Democratic Debate
October 15, 2019
9:10 p.m. EasternANDERSON COOPER: Congresswoman Gabbard, last week you said American troops should get out of Syria now. You don't agree with how the President handled the withdrawal. What would you have done differently? How would you have pulled out troops without the bloodshed we're seeing now?
CONGRESSWOMAN TULSI GABBARD (HI): Well, first of all, we've got to understand the reality of the situation there, which is that the slaughter of the Kurds being done by Turkey is yet another negative consequence of the regime change war that we've been waging in Syria. Donald Trump has the blood of the Kurds on his hand, but so do many of the politicians in our country from both parties who have supported this ongoing regime change war in Syria that started in 2011, along with many in the mainstream media, who have been championing and cheerleading this regime change war. Not only that but — New York Times and CNN have also smeared veterans like myself for calling for an end to this regime change war. Just two days ago, The New York Times put out a — an article saying that I'm a Russian asset and an Assad apologist and all these different smears. This morning, a CNN commentator said on national television that I'm an asset of Russia. Completely despicable. As president, I will end these regime change wars by doing two things — ending that draconian sanctions that are really a modern day siege, the like of which we are seeing Saudi Arabia wage against Yemen that have caused tens of thousands Syrian civilians to die and to starve and I would make sure that we stop supporting terrorists like al-Qaeda who have been the groundforce in this ongoing regime change war.
