KEENE, New Hampshire — Tulsi Gabbard scolded Hillary Clinton for claiming no one likes Bernie Sanders, suggesting that the former secretary of state’s comments sounded more like gossip found among school lockers than analysis by a former Democratic presidential nominee.
“This isn’t high school. This is real life, everyday issues that people are really struggling with and dealing with that they’re looking to leaders in Washington to solve,” the Hawaii congresswoman, 38, told reporters on Tuesday.
Clinton, in an interview published on Tuesday, said she was not ready to endorse the Vermont senator, whom she defeated in the 2016 primary, should he win the Democratic presidential nomination. “I’m not going to go there yet,” she said.
In a Hulu documentary about Clinton premiering in March, the former secretary of state said that “nobody likes him.”
“He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him. Nobody wants to work with him. He got nothing done. He was a career politician. It’s all just baloney, and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it,” she said.
After backlash for her comment, Clinton said she will support the party’s nominee.
Earlier on Tuesday, Gabbard tweeted, “I like Bernie,” which became a trending hashtag on social media in response to Clinton. In 2016, Gabbard resigned as vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee to endorse Sanders in the primary.
I like Bernie. #ILikeBernie
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) January 21, 2020
Gabbard was a target of Clinton in an October interview in which the former secretary of state suggested that Gabbard is being “groomed” by Russia or the Republicans to run as a third-party spoiler candidate. Gabbard responded to Clinton in part by calling her “the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long.”
“Bernie Sanders has joined the exclusive club in his 2020 primary with Tulsi, being attacked by a former secretary of state that will not be named,” said New Hampshire political organizer Eric Jackman while introducing Gabbard at a campaign event that drew over 100 people.
Gabbard said, without hesitation, however, that she would accept Clinton’s endorsement if she is the nominee.
“I think it’s important that we get past this popularity contest in Washington and actually stand up, stand up and listen to the people who are calling out for leaders to listen to them and to work for them,” Gabbard said Tuesday.
