DNI Tulsi Gabbard draws friendly fire from Republicans for video warning of nuclear war
With a cryptic video that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard posted on X on Tuesday morning, the Democratic-congresswoman-turned-America-First-advocate reignited simmering concerns about the unorthodox intelligence chief among both her longtime detractors and some Republicans who voted to confirm her earlier this year. She obviously needs to change her meds, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told Jewish Insider of Gabbard. Kennedy, like all Republicans except Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), voted to confirm Gabbard in February. 'I only saw a post that she did, which I thought was a very strange one since many people believe that, unfortunate though it was, the nuclear bomb that was dropped in World War II at Hiroshima actually saved a lot of lives, a lot of American lives,' Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told JI of Gabbard's video. In the social media video, Gabbard describes a recent visit to Hiroshima, Japan, where she learned about the toll of the atomic bomb dropped on the city by American troops in 1945, which spurred a Japanese surrender and the end of World War II. She warned that the world faces another 'nuclear holocaust' unless people 'reject this path to nuclear war.' 'This is the reality of whats at stake, what we are facing now, because as we stand here today, closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before, political elite warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers,' said Gabbard, not specifying who she was referring to by 'political elite warmongers' or which countries she may have been calling out. Gabbard's video decrying 'warmongers' prompted concern from Republicans seeking a more traditionally conservative foreign policy worldview. 'She seems to be doing her best audition to be head of the Quincy Institute,' a senior employee at a pro-Israel advocacy group said of Gabbard. One Senate Republican, speaking on condition of anonymity, questioned Gabbard's logic in raising the human toll of Hiroshima and her 'warmongers' comment. Im not sure I understand why the DNI would even need to make that point, the senator said of the Hiroshima focus, later adding: 'I dont seek nuclear war. I dont know anyone who wants nuclear war. Theres plenty of ideological diversity here, but pretty much universal opposition to that. Since taking office, Gabbard, who in 2020 was a surrogate for progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) presidential campaign, has generally been aligned with the isolationist wing of the Republican Party, which is increasingly ascendant in the Trump administration. William Ruger, the official she tapped for the high-level position that prepares the president's daily intelligence briefing, came from Koch-affiliated institutions and has called for 'American restraint' on the world stage. During her nomination battle, Gabbard faced criticism, including from some Republicans — focused in particular on a congressional trip to Syria in 2017 when she met with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, her parroting of Russian propaganda about the country's war with Ukraine and her defense of Edward Snowden, the former intelligence official who leaked classified information before fleeing the country. 'It defies belief that someone would be criticizing [President Harry] Trumans act of winning a war. We really need to get back to winning wars when we fight,' Eric Levine, a prominent Republican fundraiser in New York who urged senators to oppose Gabbard's confirmation, told JI on Tuesday. Levine raised concerns about Gabbard's ability to influence President Donald Trump's approach to Iran, as nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are set to continue this weekend. He said that if Trump does the 'right thing' —meaning he ends the Iran negotiations and supports a strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure —then the U.S. will 'save a lot of lives, just like Harry Truman did, and will not require the dropping of a nuclear bomb.' 'Im very concerned about the isolationist wing of the Republican Party,' Levine continued. 'I dont know whos winning out, because we dont know what the end result is in Iran yet.' Several Republican senators questioned why Gabbard would make the video in the first place. 'I thought it was not appropriate,' Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told JI. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) described the impact of the bomb as 'horrible' but said it was necessary to end the war, in which his father had fought. 'Dropping those bombs probably saved a million servicemens lives. If you dont want to get nuked, dont start barbaric wars,' Graham told JI. 'I think its a horrible thing to happen to people, but it was brought on by Japan, and if I were Harry Truman, I would have done the same thing because the casualty estimates were a million dead Americans invading mainland Japan.' Alexa Henning, Gabbard's deputy chief of staff, declined to say whether Gabbard was referring in the video to a specific nation or to specific people. Acknowledging the past is critical to inform the future. President Trump has repeatedly stated in the past that he recognizes the immeasurable suffering, and annihilation can be caused by nuclear war, which is why he has been unequivocal that we all need to do everything possible to work towards peace,' Henning said in a statement. 'DNI Gabbard supports President Trump's clearly stated objectives of bringing about lasting peace and stability and preventing war. Despite the criticism coming even from some allies, Gabbard's views do not appear to have gone outside the realm of what Trump hopes to see from her. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), a personal friend of Gabbard's from their shared time in the House, defended Gabbard's post and her service as DNI. I think shes doing a great job … Shes doing exactly what the president wanted her to do,' Mullin told JI. People have been critical of her, and this is D.C., right? Youre going to get criticized for walking down the stairs wrong, so criticism is part of the job.'
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