'Hillary's gone crazy': Trump defends Tulsi Gabbard after Clinton says she is being 'groomed' by the Russians for 2020
President Donald Trump came to 2020 Democratic candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's defense on Saturday, and slammed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying she has "gone crazy." The remark from Trump came after Clinton suggested that Russia was "grooming" Gabbard to make an independent presidential run in 2020. The former first lady reportedly also accused Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein of being a Russian asset too.
"So now Crooked Hillary is at it again! She is calling Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard 'a Russian favorite,' and Jill Stein 'a Russian asset," Trump tweeted. "As you may have heard, I was called a big Russia lover also (actually, I do like Russian people. I like all people!). Hillary's gone Crazy!"
Trump, whose own campaign had become the focus of an investigation probing Russian interference in 2016 elections and Moscow's possible collusion with his campaign, has denied all accusations of collusion. The president has also brushed aside evidence of Kremlin meddling in 2016.
Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard slammed Clinton on Friday, calling her "the queen of warmongers," and the "embodiment of corruption" after the 2016 Democratic nominee's comments.
"Thank you @HillaryClinton," Gabbard tweeted on Friday. "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."
Clinton, while appearing on former President Barack Obama aide David Plouffe’s “Campaign HQ” podcast on Friday, said she believed Russia was "grooming" a Democratic Party candidate to give up their primary bid and run for president as a third-party candidate. The former first lady, however, did not take any names or accused Gabbard directly.
The 2016 Democratic nominee said that Russia has "got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate." Clinton added: "She’s the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far."
Plouffe, however, ended his podcast with a reference to Clinton's "belief that Tulsi Gabbard is going to be a third-party candidate propped up by Trump and the Russians." The former Secretary of State did not appear to contradict his description. Gabbard also appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Friday night and said that Clinton had waged a smear campaign against her because "she knows she can't control me."
"The reason why she's doing this is because ultimately she knows she can't control me," Gabbard, who was on the campaign trail in Iowa, told Carlson. "I stand against everything that she represents and she know that...if I'm the Democratic nominee and elected president, she won't be able to control me, she won't be able to manipulate me."
The 2020 candidate also accused Clinton of having "blood on her hands" because she had "championed" multiple wars overseas. "Thousands of my brothers and sisters in uniform were killed in Iraq, a war that she championed," Gabbard added. "Their blood is on her hands. That's why she's smearing my character and trying to undermine my campaign."