Cotton: ‘I hope no one would impugn Ms. Gabbard's patriotism’

Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump's pick to serve as director of national intelligence, will have a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. In the meantime, committee Chair Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has a message for her doubters.

“I do hope though that we won’t see anyone questioning her patriotism,” Cotton told host Shannon Bream on "Fox News Sunday." “You know, Hillary Clinton has basically called her a traitor in the past. This is a woman who served more than 20 years in our nation's army.”

It's been a bumpy road for Gabbard, the former Democratic House representative from Hawaii-turned-MAGA convert who has faced criticism for her ties to former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and for statements expressing sympathy with Russia and its invasion of Ukraine.

Also at issue, Gabbard's support of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has lived in exile for more than a decade.

“She's passed five different background checks. I reviewed the latest one. It's clean as a whistle,” Cotton said. “It's fine for people to have policy differences and ask questions about those differences. I hope no one would impugn Ms. Gabbard’s patriotism or her integrity.”

But Cotton cited Republicans' success pushing through another of Trump's more controversial nominees as reason to be bullish.

“Well, I think there's a lot of people making predictions on background about the president's nominees that don't come true,” Cotton told Bream. “If you recall, Pete Hegseth, in early December, was on the verge of withdrawing and being replaced by someone and now he's Secretary Hegseth at the Department of Defense.”

Still, it's too early to say how her nomination will fare.

“I can promise you and all Americans that Tulsi Gabbard is going to have a full hearing on Thursday,” Cotton told Bream. “It's going to be just like the hearing that we conducted for [new CIA Director] John Ratcliffe and the hearings that the committee has conducted for nominees from both the Democratic and Republican presidents alike — no more, no less, no better, no worse.”

Cotton, a China hawk, has long supported the law requiring the ban or forced sale of TikTok, the popular social media app owned by Chinese company ByteDance. Trump staved off the ban with an executive order on the first day of his presidency, but his attempts at finding a solution since then have perplexed lawmakers.

“What might they do if Donald Trump imposes tariffs on China or in a moment of heightened tension around Taiwan? That's why it's critical that there be a complete and total break with communist China, and that's exactly what the law insists,” Cotton said.

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