Hillary Clinton sycophancy runs deep enough in the cable news circuit that certain MSNBC talking heads are defending her baseless assertion that Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is a “Russian asset.”
It would be bad enough if it were just this, running interference for an unsubstantiated allegation of treason leveled against a United States combat veteran. But the thing that makes these MSNBC pundits stand out is that they can’t even get the facts straight.
Clinton alleged in an Oct. 17 interview that the Russians have a “favorite” candidate in the 2020 Democratic primary, who they are “supporting” with “a bunch of sites and bots and other ways.” After these remarks, which her spokesman confirmed the next day were in reference to Gabbard, Clinton then turned her attention to 2016 Green Party nominee Jill Stein, stating “she is also a Russian asset.” That is an indirect but explicit statement that Gabbard is a “Russian asset.”
Later, on Oct. 18, Gabbard pushed back, finally, tweeting from her official account, “Great! Thank you [Hillary Clinton]. 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.” The congresswoman also released a video hitting back at Clinton over the baseless conspiracy theory.
Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton. 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. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a …
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) October 18, 2019
Embarrassingly enough, the timing and details of the Clinton vs. Gabbard feud have proven too complicated for certain NBC and MSNBC personalities to comprehend.
MSNBC contributor and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart, for example, claimed Saturday that Clinton did not “name names” when she alleged the Kremlin has a favorite 2020 Democratic candidate, who, like Stein, is also a “Russian asset.”
Yet, “Congresswoman Gabbard was like, ‘Me! Me! Me! Me!,'” he added, comically raising his hand like an overeager student.
Again: Clinton’s spokesman confirmed the Hawaii congresswoman was the target of the former secretary of state’s remarks.
Amazingly, Capehart is not the only talking head whose trenchant analysis this weekend of Clinton’s smear of Gabbard confused the timeline of events.
“When Hillary Clinton says there’s a Russian asset, doesn’t say anybody’s name, and Tulsi Gabbard goes, ‘How dare you call me a Russian asset?'” NBC News’ Jonathan Allen said.
Am I missing something? Do these people not know that Gabbard’s pushback came after Clinton’s aide confirmed for the record that the congresswoman was the intended target of the two-time failed presidential candidate’s comments?
“One thing that was interesting about Tulsi Gabbard’s response, I mean, she went after Hillary Clinton strong, she said she wasn’t going to run as a third party candidate, she never denied being a Russian asset,” said MSNBC regular Kimberly Atkins. “That was the one aspect that was missing from her response, which you think that would be in the first line or two. It was not there.”
Yes, why can’t you answer whether you have stopped beating your wife? What are you hiding?
If these people cannot even get the timeline of events correct, what are we to think of their comments on this and other matters?
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CORRECTION: A previous version of this story reported incorrectly that Hillary Clinton alleged specifically that the Russians are “grooming” Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for a third-party run. This is false. Clinton’s remarks were made in reference to the GOP.
