Representative and former DNC Vice Chair Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), who is supporting Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), said that while “I’m not going to speak for any particular senator,” “there is a lot of fear, unfortunately that drives decisions that are being made in Washington, fear against going against the establishment, fear against what going against the so-called Clinton machine will bring upon them” in response to a question on why no Democratic members of the Senate have endorsed Sanders on Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room.”
When asked why she thinks no Democratic members of the Senate have endorsed Sanders, Gabbard stated, “That’s a good question. I think that there is a lot of fear, unfortunately that drives decisions that are being made in Washington, fear against going against the establishment, fear against what going against the so-called Clinton machine will bring upon them. I’m not going to speak for any particular senator, or make presumptions about why they’re making their own decisions. But I think for those who have endorsed Bernie Sanders, whether they are elected officials, or people out in these communities, people who I’ve met, who are really excited and hopeful about the opportunity to really empower the people again, and take government and those out of the hands of those very few powerful, very wealthy, and those very few who have influence, and really open the doors wide up, so that we’re focusing on exactly who we are supposed to be serving, as public servants, as elected officials, and remember that, remember who hired us to do our jobs.”
Earlier, Gabbard said, “[S]ome key distinctions that are important to note, are — beginning with the Iraq War. Secretary Clinton either didn’t do her homework properly or she didn’t have the foresight and judgment to know how that war would end up, and she voted for it. Bernie Sanders voted against it.”
She added, “[I]t’s not just about Iraq. It’s about what happened after that. It’s about, her decision as the architect and champion for the military overthrow of Gaddafi in Libya that resulted in a failed nation, and chaos, and loss of life and a stronger ISIS and al Qaeda, and now with the current war in Syria, where Secretary Clinton supports continuing this regime change interventionist war, Bernie Sanders opposes it, and has promised to end it. She’s promised to continue it, and continue to escalate it with a no-fly zone, without providing any details on exactly how many US aircraft will be necessary to implement that no-fly zone. How will it be effective? How many US ground troops will be required to enforce that so-called safe zone or no-fly zone. What will happen if a Russian plane, for example, violates that no-fly zone? There’s so many questions on what she is proposing to do on this current day war in Syria, that have yet to be answered, and I encourage you to ask her those questions in the debate that you’re going be moderating coming up in New York.”
Gabbard further stated, “I have serious issues with the track record, and the positions that she’s taken on, in particular, as it relates to foreign policy, and the decisions that she has made that have cost our country trillions of dollars, that have cost our country thousands of lives, my brothers and sisters in uniform, who I served with, who never made that trip home on that plane, whose families are still home, grieving the loss of their loved ones. There are very real consequences to this election.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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