Tulsi Gabbard officially kicked off her presidential campaign with a rally at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki.
Earlier in the week, Politico reported that Gabbard’s campaign was already in disarray even as she was preparing for the official launch.
Two-and-a-half weeks after the Hawaii Democrat told CNN she had decided to run for the White House—an announcement that even her own staff didn’t know was coming, after weeks of debating the timing of the rollout—the 37-year-old congresswoman has struggled to contain the chaos.
Campaign manager Rania Batrice and Gabbard’s consulting firm Revolution Messaging are set to depart after this weekend’s official kickoff in Hawaii, two sources familiar with the situation told POLITICO. Gabbard is leaning on her sister, Vrindavan, to fill the void.
And just hours before Gabbard’s campaign announcement yesterday, NBC News reported experts analyzing internet patterns have found evidence that the sites used by Russian propagandists to influence the 2016 presidential election have been stepping up their support for Gabbard.
From the NBC report:
The Russian propaganda machine that tried to influence the 2016 U.S. election is now promoting the presidential aspirations of a controversial Hawaii Democrat who earlier this month declared her intention to run for president in 2020.
An NBC News analysis of the main English-language news sites employed by Russia in its 2016 election meddling shows Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who is set to make her formal announcement Saturday, has become a favorite of the sites Moscow used when it interfered in 2016.
Several experts who track websites and social media linked to the Kremlin have also seen what they believe may be the first stirrings of an upcoming Russian campaign of support for Gabbard.
Since Gabbard announced her intention to run on Jan. 11, there have been at least 20 Gabbard stories on three major Moscow-based English-language websites affiliated with or supportive of the Russian government: RT, the Russian-owned TV outlet; Sputnik News, a radio outlet; and Russia Insider, a blog that experts say closely follows the Kremlin line. The CIA has called RT and Sputnik part of “Russia’s state-run propaganda machine.”
You can read the full report here.
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Disturbing and unsurprising at the same time.
NBC:
While some of her stances appeal to the left, she has also angered the party’s liberal base with her past positions on same sex marriage, abortion and guns. Just weeks after Donald Trump’s upset victory over Hillary Clinton, she met with the president-elect at Trump Tower.
But Gabbard’s most controversial position and the one where she’s most in line with Russian interests is on Syria. She’s accused the U.S. of pushing a policy of “regime change” wars and in January 2017, she met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Syria on what she called a “fact-finding mission.”
RT began defending Gabbard as soon as she announced. A behavioral science expert who studies social media tweeted out a vow on Jan. 11 to start a GoFundMe campaign to finance a reporting trip to Gabbard’s Hawaii district. Reporters for RT’s television network pounced, calling it “an investigative vacation” and a “beachside investigation” by an “establishment Democrat.” ……
I am always amazed at the left becoming shills for the CIA. What the heck happened to all of you?
If Russia “the enemy” then maybe this is relative.
theintercept.com reports; “ NBC News to Claim Russia supports Tulsi Gabbard relies on Firm just caught Fabricating Russia Data for the Democratic Party. personally I doubt that NBC! CNN! ABC! CBS! FOX report with integrity, corporate owned. Tulsi has some good points in her speech. I would like to hear specifics on how to make the changes.
Gabbard will tell you what you want to hear. And it doesn’t matter what you want; she will promise you rainbows and tulips. But you will never know what’s in her head. Ever.
There is no Tulsi Gabbard. A vote for Tulsi is a vote for Chris Butler. IMHO
Disagree. Only because I go out and reach out for the people and news that has a base. Went to Tulsi event and thought her speech was well thought out and delivered. Keep an open mind and read.
I think she could have made some headway in Hawaii if she had advocated for transgendered people after Trump recently made the decision to ban them from serving in the military. If I am mistaken and she did in fact, advocate for them, it was not very loud. I have listened hard.
This woman is an opportunist. Russia knows it.
This has been debunked by Intercept/Greenwald.
Debunked by the Intercept/Greewald? The ones who pushed the Russian media campaign. “Debunked” the claim that Russians were doing anything with the election. That’s like listening to Typhoid Mary’s opinions about Typhoid,
So you didn’t read the Intercept article. You just called Greenwald names instead. I could call you names too. Wouldn’t that be brilliant?
Russia knows a pliable patsy when it sees one.
It’s quite telling that the local Democratic Party basically boycotted her campaign kickoff. And the crowd was very small even if packed with Kailua Krishnas. This is not a real presidential campaign. It’s just not.
The Kamala Harris camp’s dubious hoopla was much better orchestrated, though still thoroughly unconvincing.
Gabbard is positioning herself for Hirono’s senate seat. Like a vulture. She may have badly miscalculated and be destined for the political wilderness as more low-information voters finally catch on.
Tulsi may be an opportunist, but I’d rather she be President than Trump.
I’d feel safer with her, and I suspect she has more compassion than he does. However, the more digging into her connections, the better. Is she beholden to a cult? Let’s find out. But let’s also take care when using the word “cult.” We need a public conversation about the meaning of that word. When should we say “religion”? When should we say “sect”? When should we say “cult”?
‘Better than Trump’ is a pretty low bar. Tulsi should have known that she’d get her first thorough vetting once she put herself forward for President, and the results aren’t pretty. That, her squabble with Mazie, and her “dumpster fire” campaign roll out are going to make her wish she’d kept her head down and relied on local voters’ tendency not to look beyond name recognition when choosing candidates. As it is, she’ll be lucky to hold on to her House seat.
Folks: the real question about Tulsi, is what has she accomplished in politics. We can be grateful for her military service, but has she introduced any significant legislation or promoted any great ideas, other than the Sander’s campaign proposals (Medicare for all, tax the rich, etc.)?
I’m willing to believe that entrenched interests feel threatened enough to fabricate stuff. I read a follow up on this that Joe Rogan interviewed the author of the Times story and the author made a poor showing.
I’m far from being sold on supporting Tulsi for POTUS in ’20. But the way she is being smeared as a Putin puppet should concern anyone who doesn’t want a repeat of the way the establishment Dems tried to strong-arm their anointed choice (hello Hillary!) the last time around.