Tulsi Gabbard Denounces Clinton: 'I Will Not Be Running as an Independent or Third Party Candidate'

In an interview with CBS News on Friday night, Tulsi Gabbard responded to remarks by Hillary Clinton that she’s being groomed by Russia as a third party spoiler candidate.

Said Clinton to David Plouffe: “I’m not making any predictions, but I think they’ve got their eye on someone who’s currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate. She’s the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far. That’s assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she’s also a Russian asset. Yeah, she’s a Russian asset—I mean, totally. They know they can’t win without a third-party candidate. So I don’t know who it’s going to be, but I will guarantee you they will have a vigorous third-party challenge in the key states that they most needed.”

A Clinton spokesman later affirmed that it was Gabbard about whom she was referring.

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Gabbard responded to Clinton’s remarks in a tweet Friday afternoon: “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 concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.”

She later told CBS News that she would not be running as a third party candidate and denounced Clinton several times.

Said Gabbard: “I’ve been very clear, I will not be leaving the Democratic party, I will not be running as an independent or a third-party candidate. I am running as a Democrat to take our party back, away from the control of people like Hillary Clinton and the warmongering and corrupt, powerful establishment and return our party into the hands of the people. Make it so the Democratic party is once again a party of, by and for the people, a party that will fight for the people, fight to protect the planet and that will fight for peace.”