Wednesday during an appearance on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) offered her thoughts on speculation that the handling of the U.S.-Iranian dust-up might have been different if Hillary Clinton were president.
Some have suggested there would not have been a confrontation if Clinton were the commander-in-chief. However, Gabbard said based on Clinton’s record, one could conclude she was a “warmonger.”
“I think everybody knows and understands that she is a warmonger,” she said. “It is her record that is proof of that … Look to her influence on going to launch regime change over in Syria, Libya. You look throughout — obviously, her support for the war in Iraq, throughout her history. Her track record is well-known. And I think this is why a lot of people back in 2016 in the general election decided that they would vote for Trump because of what he was saying on the campaign trail about ending stupid wars and bringing our troops home.
“The problem now, though, is — and I’m out on the campaign trail and hearing from a lot of people who had voted for Trump largely because of this issue and their concern about how rather than ending stupid wars and bringing our troops home, what they’re seeing is more of our troops being deployed to the Middle East,” Gabbard continued. “And now us, our country, at war with — with Iran. So, they’re coming and saying, hey, Tulsi, we are confident that you as president, commander-in-chief, will actually end these long-standing regime change wars.”
The Hawaii Democrat was also critical of President Donald Trump’s policy regarding Iran after the current flare-up.
“This is where, unfortunately, President Trump’s actions are actually undermining our national security in two important ways,” Gabbard said. “That is because our troops are no longer being able to focus on that mission of — of preventing ISIS from getting a resurgence, it’s creating an opening for ISIS and al Qaeda to reconstitute themselves and to pose a threat to our forces, to our country and the people in the region.”
“And, secondly, Iran is now, as they’ve announced, they’re no longer complying with any restrictions that were in the Iran nuclear agreement, speeding quickly towards developing their own nuclear weapons capability, which puts us at greater risk and puts our partners and allies in the world at a greater risk,” she added.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor