Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as his Director of National Intelligence, is one of several prominent former Democrats who have signaled an allegiance to the Make America Great Again movement.
As such, she has sparked a few political rivalries on both sides of the aisle, including among some who now hold the key to her confirmation.
Following a sometimes combative Senate confirmation hearing last week, however, Gabbard received some support from a somewhat surprising source: the notoriously anti-Trump daughter of the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
Any Senator who votes against @TulsiGabbard for DNI isn’t just going to have a problem with MAGA and Trump – I will make it my personal mission to help campaign and fundraise against you in your next election.
And my people are probably a lot like their people.
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) February 1, 2025
Breitbart reported on the context surrounding McCain’s statement:
McCain’s words came days after Gabbard first appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday for her confirmation hearing. During Gabbard’s opening statement, she addressed the “lies and smears” that her opponents have attempted to spread about her, noting that her opponents have implied she is “loyal to something or someone other than God” or the Constitution of the United States.
What Gabbard said was:
Now, 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. 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.
ADVERTISEMENTAs Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong reported, Democrats and the mainstream media have peddled lies and smears about Gabbard being “an Assad sympathizer,” a “Russian asset,” and that she is “soft on Iran.”
Here’s a clip of Gabbard’s opening statement:
Tulsi Gabbard at Senate confirmation hearing: “I want to warn the American people who are watching at home … ”
“You may hear lies and smears in this hearing that'll challenge my loyalty to and my love for our country.”
“The same tactic was used against President Trump and… pic.twitter.com/3Bw8hXgen2
— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) January 30, 2025
McCain was just one of the voices, including many from within the intelligence community, who expressed enthusiastic support for her confirmation:
I’ve had the opportunity to spend a fair amount of time with @TulsiGabbard over the past weeks. She’s impressive – honest, intelligent, inquisitive, reasonable, tough, patriotic. It’s no wonder @realDonaldTrump wants her briefing him. https://t.co/fKOkGuWF48
— Robert C. O'Brien (@robertcobrien) January 30, 2025
Dozens of Former Intelligence and National Security Officials Sign Open Letter In Support of Tulsi Gabbard
The signers include Robert C. O’Brien, former National Security Advisor; Richard Grenell, former Acting Director of National Intelligence; and Rear Admiral Peter J. Brown,… pic.twitter.com/HSr8I9YHqN
— EIR News Service (@execintelreview) January 30, 2025
As Mediaite reported, McCain also took aim at Gabbard’s critics during an interview on Friday:
During her discussion with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, and Dan Turrentine, McCain observed that “there are a lot of women in my life” who “were not Republicans five years ago” that ultimately voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election “because of Tulsi and RFK.”
“If they screw these two people and they don’t get confirmed, it is a flesh wound for the Trump administration,” she said. “If MAHA [Make America Healthy Again] and Tulsi goes down, there will be consequences.”
At another point, McCain suggested that the resistance to Gabbard’s nomination was reflective of the higher standards women are held to.
ADVERTISEMENTAfter Spicer suggested that Gabbard “shook a lot of people” by fumbling the questions about Snowden, McCain went off.
“It’s just weird for me — and I think it’s weird for a lot of people, particularly women — that like it would be better for her to have like an accused sexual assault allegation where she paid someone off,” she argued. “Like that would be better for her to be confirmed –”
Here’s a clip of a particularly combative exchange during Gabbard’s hearing last week:
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