 "Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who ran for 2020 Democrat US presidential election, has endorsed Donald Trump's presidential bid. File Image / AP")
President-elect Donald Trump stirred headlines once again after he announced that he would nominate former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as the US Director of National Intelligence after he returns to office next year. The erstwhile Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii shifted her political allegiance after she failed to secure the liberal party’s presidential nomination during the 2020 elections.
After assuming the role, Gabbard will oversee all 18 US national agencies. Lauding Gabbard’s stellar record, Trump said that she “has broad support” from both political parties. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength,” he said. “Tulsi will make us all proud!” he added.
While filling the top brass of the US government, Trump has leaned towards picking his loyalists, overlooking the fact that some of them might not have national security credentials. One of the prime examples of this is the nomination of Pete Hegseth for secretary of defence on Tuesday.
It is pertinent to note that Hegseth was a Fox News host and veteran of the Army National Guard. While he has been a vocal defender of Trump, he has no senior military or national security experience.
Gabbard might shape Trump’s international playbook
Gabbard created history in 2012 after she became the first Hindu elected to the House of Representatives in 2012. She is also a combat veteran and a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve. As a director of national intelligence, the lawmaker from Hawaii might play a leading role in shaping the Trump administration’s playbook.
In the past, Gabbard has been vocal in her criticism of US President Joe Biden’s response to the conflicts that have taken over the world. “This administration has us facing multiple wars on multiple fronts in regions around the world and closer to the brink of nuclear war than we ever have been before,” she said while stumping for Trump at a campaign rally, adding it was one of “the main reasons” she was backing Trump this year.
“I am confident that his first task will be to do the work to walk us back from the brink of war,” she added. The new Republican lawmaker has slammed Biden’s support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Not only this, while Gabbard was part of the US House of Representatives, she emerged as a vocal critic of the Obama administration’s intervention in the war in Syria.
In 2017, she received major backlash for visiting Syria and holding talks with the country’s President Bashar al-Assad, who has been accused of myriad human rights abuses throughout the war.
With inputs from agencies.