In May, as part of The Daily Beast's "РОÐ'РКРBITES Ð Ð" Ð"ОÐ'Ð" К" column, Lachlan Markay and Sam Stein wrote an article headlined, "Tulsi Gabbard's Campaign Is Being Boosted By Putin Apologists." It wildly singled out three individual donors as evidence that her campaign is "underwritten by some of the nation's leading Russophiles."
Gabbard raised nearly $5 million in the first quarter. These donations made up 0.86 percent of the donations she received.
Rolling Stone reporter Matt Taibbi called the piece a "new low" for "campaign hit pieces," and he noted that George Stephanopoulos, host of ABC's "This Week," asked Gabbard about the article, which she called "fake news." As Taibbi noted, that set off a round of stories denouncing her for using a phrase Trump popularized.
During a CNN debate in July, Gabbard challenged Senator Kamala Harris over her record on criminal justice issues when she was a prosecutor in California. Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, sought to discredit her criticism. "Reporters writing their stories with eyes on the modern-day assignment desk of Twitter, read this," he wrote, sharing a link to the NBC News story from February.
MSNBC host Joy Reid and New York Times writer Wajahat Ali agreed. "Beware the Russian bots and their promotion of Tulsi Gabbard and sowing racial discord, especially around Kamala Harris," Ali tweeted. Reid replied, "It is notable that her purpose in these debates has been specifically to take Harris down."
A profile by Edward-Isaac Dovere that The Atlantic published in September added to the gossip journalism around Gabbard's campaign. The publication granted anonymity to "high-level Democrats" to trash her campaign and her supporters. Dovere pointed to Russia Today coverage and a Russian embassy that tweeted favorably about Gabbard as proof that she is likely an agent. And he dismissed her comments about keeping the United States from the brink of nuclear war with Russia because they did not mesh well with the article.
New York Times reporter Lisa Lerer essentially followed the same template that Dovere followed in an October article headlined, "What, Exactly, Is Tulsi Gabbard Up To?" It broke no new ground. However, Gabbard remembered the article while she was on the debate stage on October 15.
She accused the Times and CNN, hosts of the debate, of smearing veterans like herself for "calling for an end" to the "regime change war" in Syria. "Just two days ago, the New York Times put out an article saying that I'm a Russian asset and an Assad apologist and all these different smears."
No other candidate was in a position where they had to worry about whether condemning attacks from the hosts of the debate would result in less speaking time, something crucial to a campaign barely able to maintain two-to-three percent in polls.
For what it is worth, Democratic presidential candidates Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson, Beto O'Rourke, Pete Buttigieg, and Bernie Sanders each spoke out.
"Tulsi Gabbard has put her life on the line to defend this country," Sanders stated. "People can disagree on issues, but it is outrageous for anyone to suggest that Tulsi is a foreign asset."
Given how prominent CNN contributors fueled this attack on Gabbard, the exchange that took place between "State of the Union" host Jake Tapper and Buttigieg on October 20 was remarkable. Tapper asked Buttigieg if he thought Gabbard was a Russian asset.
BUTTIGIEG: I don't know what the basis is for that.
TAPPER: Well, I don't either.
BUTTIGIEG: I consider her to be a competitor, somebody who I respect her service.
I also have very different views than she does, especially on foreign policy. And I would prefer to have that argument in terms of policy, which is what we do with debates and what we're doing as we go forward.
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